A Hertfordshire man has been jailed for nearly five years for paying for and directing the sexual abuse of children in the Philippines and Romania.
Eamon Goodfellow,50, from St Albans, was arrested by National Crime Agency officers on 14 June 2018 and all of his electronic devices were seized for analysis.
A number of chat logs were recovered which showed Goodfellow discussing the abuse of children with two sexual abuse “facilitators”, one in the Philippines and the other in Romania.
In the chats, Goodfellow was shown to be actively seeking children under 13-years-old.
Authorities said when Goodfellow identified a child he was interested in, he would direct the facilitators to perform sexual acts on them, and live-stream the abuse.
Evidence showed that he sent payments to the facilitators to carry out the abuse.
Eamon
He was found guilty of two counts of attempting to cause the sexual exploitation of a child under13 at StAlbans Crown Court on 12 April, following a six-day trial.
He was sentenced today to four years and nine months in prison. Goodfellow is also subject to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will remain on the sex offenders register for life.
Martin Ludlow from the National Crime Agency said: “Goodfellow made it very clear that he has sexual interest in young children in these chat logs.
“He attempted to arrange the most horrific abuse of vulnerable children thousands of miles away from him for his own gratification.
“He was helped by facilitators whose motive is to make money. This kind of financially-driven offending is a key threat to the UK.”
The NCA confirmed that law enforcement in the Philippines and in Romania had taken steps to safeguard the children at the centre of the abuse orchestrated by Goodfellow.
The children are now being supported and cared for by child protection agencies in those countries.