Ex-army officer paid £8k to watch live child abuse

A FORMER British Army officer is facing jail after he spent thousands of pounds watching children being sexually abused in images streamed live from the Philippines.

Andrew Whiddett, of Portsmouth, Hants, also discussed flying out to the country to commit abuse himself, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

The 70-year-old ex-lieutenant colonel – awarded an MBE for service in Northern Ireland – pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court to six charges relating to the sexual abuse of children.

His offending was committed in the UK after he had left the Army and finished private contractor work as head of security at the British Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. The NCA said he directed live streamed abuse over Skype.

Whiddett had conversations with a woman between September and October 2016, in which he made clear he “wanted to sexually abuse a child when he visited the Philippines that October”, the NCA said. He made 49 payments to the woman totalling £8,584 between January 2015 and July 2017.

On Nov 21 2015, Whiddett paid £31.41 to watch a nine-year-old girl being abused, the NCA said. He travelled to Manila, the capital, on Oct 21 2016.

After his arrest, he admitted sending 158 payments to the Philippines but said they were for live adult sex shows.

Whiddett admitted attempting to cause or incite a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity in November 2015, and intentionally causing or inciting a girl under 16 to engage in sexual activity in September 2016.

He also admitted arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence in September 2016, and three charges of making indecent photographs of a child.

Bailing Whiddett for sentencing on May 22, Judge Nicholas Ainley told him: “You should prepare yourself for a period of imprisonment.”