“I know it’s wrong” confessed offender who paid to watch the abuse of girls as young as five

A man from Monmouth in Wales has been sentenced to nine years in prison after National Crime Agency investigators proved he had been paying for the live streamed abuse of children.

Stephen Lane, aged 55, was brought to the attention of the NCA following the arrest of an individual in the Philippines who had been facilitating child abuse. Lane had made three payments to her via PayPal, totalling around 5750 Filipino Pesos.

In messages sent between 22 March and 7 April 2023, he queried the ages of children in explicit images, and asked to view content involving an eight-year-old in exchange for payment.

On 25 May 2023, NCA officers arrested Lane at his home address and seized a number of devices. After caution, he stated “I know it’s wrong”.

A digital review revealed that Lane had communicated with 19 different Filipino women in order to view shows involving the abuse of children as young as five.

In messages sent before and during video calls, he repeatedly voiced concerns about value for money, refusing to pay before seeing and confirming the ages of the children on screen. On several occasions, he directed the abuse of children via the chat function. Many of those children were described as the women’s daughters.

On 11 September 2024, Lane pleaded guilty to paying for sexual services of a child, causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child, intentionally encouraging the distribution of indecent photographs of children, as well as making one Category A, two Category B and 12 Category C indecent images of children.

On 17 December 2024, he was sentenced at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court to nine years imprisonment.

The facilitators in the Philippines have been arrested and the children involved safeguarded.

Phil Eccles, Operations Manager at the National Crime Agency, said:

“The live streamed sexual abuse of children is often facilitated by neighbours, friends or family members of victims, but demand for it is driven by offenders sat behind their screens.

“Stephen Lane was one of these offenders; he repeatedly sought out, paid for and directed abhorrent abuse over multiple years, bartering over the price of horrific content, and requesting explicit videos of children as young as five.

“Today’s result demonstrates our resolve to pursue those who pose a sexual risk to children, and our commitment to joint work with international counterparts in the Philippines to ensure they face justice.”