WIREDGOV

A man who was using a chatroom when the rape of a six-year-old boy was being live streamed has become the fifth offender to be convicted following a National Crime Agency investigation.

Stephen Wilkie, aged 52, from Ealing, who used the chatroom to view indecent images of children, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years.

He was given a 60 day rehabilitation order, 100 hours unpaid work, placed on the sex offenders register for ten years, and made subject to a ten-year sexual harm prevention order at Kingston Crown Court.

Adopting usernames, including ‘more’ and ‘mmm’, he made regular visits to the chatroom between July 2015 and January the following year.

The rape was live-streamed to the chatroom on 22 July 2015 by the abuser, William Chandler Augusta – a 20-year-old from Pennsylvania. Augusta was jailed in America in February this year for a minimum of 45 years.

His victim was identified by police officers in the US and protective measures were taken.

Following Willkie’s arrest last year, NCA officers forensically examined his digital devices and found 56 indecent images of children – 11 in the most serious category for such images.

Graham Ellis, Operations Manager at the NCA, said: “Offenders with a sexual interest in children sometimes believe online anonymity will keep them safe from law enforcement. They’re wrong.

“National Crime Agency officers are dedicated, highly trained and equipped with advanced technical capabilities.

“Offenders who use these chat rooms re-victimise children by viewing images of them being abused. We will find them and bring them to justice.”

In September, Philip Crabtree, 35, who emailed sick instructions to Augusta as he carried out the abuse, was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison.

Christian Luecking Johnson, 36, who was not online during the attack but logged on shortly before and afterwards, was jailed for 20 months in August.

Earlier this year, two other men, youth worker Darren Williams, 44, and primary school teacher Wayne Brookes, 43, were jailed for 11 years and one year eight months respectively after NCA investigators showed they were online in the chatroom as the rape was streamed.