Former Army Officer Jailed For Watching Child Abuse

The former Lieutenant Colonel was awarded an MBE for his military service in Northern Ireland (Picture: PA).

A former Army officer has been jailed for three years and two months after he spent thousands of pounds watching children in the Philippines being sexually abused live on video stream.

Andrew Whiddett, 70, from Portsmouth, also discussed flying out to the country to commit abuse himself, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The retired Lieutenant Colonel, who was awarded an MBE for service in Northern Ireland, appeared for sentencing at Croydon Crown Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to six charges relating to the sexual abuse of children.

Judge Nicholas Ainley said: "This is a 70-year-old who has been a dedicated and courageous servant to his country and also somebody who has abused two young children - there's no getting around that fact."

Whiddett had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to cause or incite a girl under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity in November 2015, and a charge of intentionally causing or inciting a girl under 16 to engage in sexual activity in September 2016.

He also admitted that in September 2016 he intentionally arranged or facilitated the commission of a child sex offence.

Whiddett was also sentenced over guilty pleas to three charges of making indecent photographs of a child.

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.

Amanda Hamilton, prosecuting, told the court the grooming was "planned" as Whiddett had directed the live-streamed abuse over Skype with "known Filipino child sex abuse facilitators".

Whiddett was sent 40 files, 19 of which included indecent images of children during the episode which took place over a few years.

Siobhan Grey QC, defending Whiddett, said he showed "remorse and shame", and claimed there was a low risk of him reoffending.

She said: "He lost his wife of 40 years in September 2014 to an aggressive form of cancer. He was lonely when he started online dating and got sucked in.

"He is ashamed and embarrassed and took some time to confront his behaviour."