Prolific Yorkshire paedophile sent money to Philippines to watch live footage of children being sexually abused

Lorry driver Richard Clark faces a decade behind bars after he sent money to the Philippines to watch live internet footage of children being sexually abused.

A court heard on Monday how some of the material showed children crying as they were exploited by adults.

Clark, 58, of Fishburn Road, Whitby, has a 20-year history of accessing such material after he became one of the first men in North Yorkshire to be convicted of downloading indecent images of children in 1999.

He was jailed for nine months at the time.

But despite this, Clark continued to re-offend by streaming the vile footage, as well as contacting young girls from the UK over the internet and paying them to send him indecent images of themselves.

He was also subjected to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order to prevent him from re-offending upon his release, and will have to sign the Sex Offenders' Register for the rest of his life.

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Constable Rachael Hughes, of Scarborough CID, said: “It’s unimaginable that someone could get enjoyment from watching children suffer in this way.

“Every time Clark made a payment to an abuser, he was directly funding child abuse and directly encouraging other paedophiles to carry out horrendous acts against vulnerable children.

“He did this from behind a computer screen where he believed he wouldn’t get caught. In some cases he did it from thousands of miles away.

“However, we investigate many different types of sexual abuse and we catch offenders. Communities in North Yorkshire and much further afield are safer when people like Clark are brought to justice and jailed.”