skip to content

Philippines abuse: Paedophile Trevor Monk jailed

More than 80,000 images of children were found on Trevor Monk's computers
More than 80,000 images of children were found on Trevor Monk’s computers

A paedophile who filmed himself abusing young girls in the Philippines has been jailed for 19-and-a-half years.

Trevor Monk, 47, of south-east London, also paid nearly £15,000 to watch child sex abuse in Manila on his webcam.

Police found more than 80,000 images and 1,750 indecent videos of children in a raid on his home in March 2015.

He admitted possessing and making indecent images of children, assault of a child under 13 and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

‘Depraved and revolting’

In total Monk pleaded guilty to 18 charges at the Old Bailey.

One of the girls he abused was eight years old and an image of a three-year-old child was discovered among the pictures.

Judge Anuja Dhir described the pictures as “harrowing images of very young children being abused and degraded in the most vile manner”.

She said: “Your actions were depraved and revolting. It is astonishing that anyone would want to film such abuse, but you did.

“I have no doubt you did so so that you could watch it again for your own sexual gratification.”

The growing problem of ‘abuse to order’

The court heard Monk paid “facilitators” to watch live streams of abuse and for access to the children during a two-week holiday to the Far East in the spring of 2014.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) arrested Monk as part of an investigation into UK nationals who pay to live-stream child abuse in the Philippines.

It was found he spent more than £14,000 to pay for what he called “shows” which he watched from his Erith home, before travelling to Manila to carry out the abuse himself.


Analysis

By BBC Correspondent Angus Crawford

The case of paedophile Trevor Monk represents a growing problem of British men ordering abuse over the internet.
L
aw enforcement is beginning to make inroads into the trade. Police in the Philippines carry out raids and arrests on a regular basis, but it’s impossible to estimate accurately the scale of the problem.

Monk’s case is significant because it shows that although his crimes began in the UK, using live streaming, that then led to him travelling to carry out contact abuse in the Philippines. The internet facilitated an escalation in his offending.

Most important though, is the fact that he got caught – thanks to co-operation between forces in the UK, US,

Australia and the Philippines – which should send a powerful message to offenders that they cannot hide in the anonymity of the internet.


He was re-arrested in November when officers discovered a video of him sexually abusing a child during a trip to South East Asia.

Erica Hall, from aid charity World Vision UK, said: “The widespread use of webcams coupled with dire economic conditions in many parts of the world means we’re seeing many more cases of such vile abuse.

“It’s encouraging that laws are keeping up with technology…[but] we suspect this is the tip of the iceberg with many cases still undetected.”

Following sentencing Kelvin Lay, senior investigating officer for the NCA, said it was a “very important result”.

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Author picture
About the Foundation
Logo
Preda Foundation Inc.

The work of Preda Foundation is focused on alleviating the physical, emotional, psychological and sexual abuse and suffering of children and preventing abuse through community education and social media.

Share this post
Facebook
Pinterest
WhatsApp
LinkedIn
Twitter