Pictured: Paedophile’s evil lair where 51-year-old livestreamed child abuse from the Philippines for as little as 93p a time as he is jailed for nine years
August 9, 2019 · By AMIE GORDON FOR MAILONLINE for www.dailymail.co.uk
Matthew Bell, who has been jailed for nine years after paying to watch children being sexually abused
A paedophile who paid to watch horrific images children of being sexually abused in the Philippines has today been jailed for nine years.
Matthew Bell is the first person in Scotland to be convicted of livestreaming sexual abuse.
The 51-year-old used adults in the Philippines to prey on children and livestreamed the abuse to his home in Irvine, Ayrshire, over the internet.
He paid as little as 93p to watch the sickening videos.
Sentencing Bell at the High Court in Glasgow today, Lord Arthurson said he had ‘plumbed new depths of depravity’ and said he would sentence him as though he ‘had carried out the abuse himself.’
He gave Bell an extended sentence, jailing him for nine years and ordering him to serve six years on licence after his release, which means that he will be monitored in the community after release.
In a statement, Lord Arthurson said Bell committed ‘extremely grave sexual offending’.
He said Bell presents a ‘high risk of serious harm’ which led him to impose the extended sentence.
The seating and desk area with a smart tv monitor and computer in Bell’s living room
This is where Bell paid to watch children being sexually abused in the Philippines via livestream. Pictures show a children’s teddy bear, a toy bike and an inhaler on his desk
In the statement later published on the Judiciary of Scotland website, Lord Arthurson added: ‘You used third party adults in the Philippines to act as your proxy in this appalling criminal conduct, and in respect of at least some of these charges, on the information before me, you did so apparently on a commercial basis.
‘Those working in these courts require in large part to endure a daily diet of depravity, but on occasion an indictment comes before the court in which new depths of such depravity are plumbed.
‘I have without difficulty concluded that yours is such a case.’
He added: ‘Let me be crystal clear: I propose to sentence you on no different a basis than had you yourself undertaken the sexual abuse libelled in these charges in person.’
Detective Inspector Susan Milloy, of Ayrshire Public Protection Unit, said: ‘It is unimaginable what impact Bell will have had on his victims in this case, many of whom were not even within the same country as their abuser.
‘We hope that this conviction and sentencing send a clear message. You may think that by sitting in your home livestreaming abuse that you will not be caught, but you will.
‘We are continuously gathering information and intelligence with a wide range of partners. Make no mistake, we will come after anyone who is committing these heinous crimes, no matter how long it takes.
An NSPCC spokesman said: ‘The sentence handed to Bell reflects the gravity of his offending. Behind every sickening video viewed by Bell were real children suffering the most appalling sexual abuse.
‘It is vital he receives effective treatment behind bars to reduce any threat he poses to children in the future.
‘The production of child abuse images is a global criminal industry and the war to stop it is only just beginning.’
