Bournemouth man jailed for more than 60 child exploitation offences
A Bournemouth man has been jailed for more than 60 offences relating to the sexual exploitation of a child in the Philippines.
Stephen David Aspinall, aged 68 and of Knole Road, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday 12 November 2021 after admitting 67 charges including multiple counts of paying for the sexual services of a child, causing or inciting child prostitution or pornography and making indecent images of a child.
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, with an extended licence period of a further four years.
The victim in the case was aged between six and nine years old during the period of offending, from December 2017 to September 2019.
A detailed investigation by Dorset Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) produced evidence to show the defendant using Skype to contact the mother of the child in the Philippines and make online payments to her in order to facilitate the sexual exploitation of the child victim and sending images of the abuse.
After receiving evidence from the National Crime Agency (NCA) relating to online payments made by the defendant to an account in the Philippines, POLIT officers established that Aspinall had made 86 financial payments totalling £2,916.37 to recipients in the Philippines.
On 7 November 2019 officers attended the defendant’s address, arrested him and seized his computers and digital devices.
An examination of the devices revealed evidence of the Skype conversations with the victim’s mother, as well as a large number of indecent images, which are graded between category A and category C, with category A being the most serious.
More than 150 category A images were found, as well as more than 800 category B and more then 3,000 category C images. Many of the images were of the victim in the Philippines.
Detective Constable Steve Cartwright, of POLIT, said: “This is a deeply disturbing case involving the repeated sexual exploitation of an innocent young victim on the other side of the world."
“With the assistance of the Dorset Police's Digital Forensic Unit, we have been able to compile a huge amount of evidence to show the extent of Aspinall’s despicable offending and bring him before the court to be held accountable for his actions."
“The POLIT team is committed to working with partners such as the National Crime Agency, other police forces and a wide range of other agencies and organisations to minimise the risk to children by proactively identifying people who use the internet to further their sexual abuse in children."
“We urge anyone to contact Dorset Police or Crimestoppers if they suspect someone is using the internet to groom or gain indecent images of children.”