“Any dads in?” asked man who encouraged boy’s chatroom rape

8 Sep 2017 12:51 PM

A man has been jailed for directing and encouraging a child sex abuser who live streamed the rape of a six-year-old boy.

Philip Crabtree, 35, is the fourth man to be locked up after a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation into an internet chatroom where the child’s rape was streamed in real time.

Unemployed Crabtree accessed the chatroom 166 times during five months of 2015.

He was in the chatroom between 9.40pm on 22 July and 2.01am 23 July 2015 watching the attack and emailing the abuser – William Chandler Augusta, 20 - sick instructions.

While watching the rape, Crabtree – who has no children – asked the others watching: “Any dads in?”

Augusta, of Pennsylvania, was jailed in America in February this year for streaming the footage of himself attacking the boy.

He will spend a minimum of 45 years in jail.

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

Crabtree was arrested at home in Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire on 30 December 2015.

Officers recovered his phone and computer which contained hundreds of child abuse images: 88 category A (the most serious), 325 category B, 499category C and 268 extreme pornography images.

Crabtree produced a prepared statement during interview denying downloading abuse images or watching the live streaming of any child sexual abuse.

He refused to answer any other questions.

Last Tuesday Crabtree was jailed at Stoke Crown Court for eight years and eight months after admitting incitement to commit rape, eight counts of encouraging the distribution of IIOC (indecent images of children) and three counts of making IIOC.

He will serve another year on licence after release.

He was also put on the sex offenders register indefinitely and given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order setting conditions for him post-release.

Two other men, youth worker Darren Williams, 44, and primary school teacher Wayne Brookes, 43, have been 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.

Christian Luecking Johnson, 36, of Raynes Park, London, was not online during the attack, but logged on shortly before and afterwards and was jailed for 20 months.

Colin Radcliffe, NCA operations manager, said: “Offenders thought they could hide behind usernames to watch this horrific crime but one by one they are being jailed.

“There is no hiding.

“Criminals exploiting and abusing children for sexual pleasure should expect to be found and prosecuted.”