A paedophile who sent almost £56,000 to the Philippines to pay for livestreamed sexual abuse of children has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
National Crime Agency (NCA) officers launched a probe into Patrick Howlett, 58, from Kent, after intelligence indicated he had made multiple payments to known facilitators of child sexual abuse in the country.
Howlett , of Ash between Canterbury and Sandwich, was found to have been in regular contact with a woman who sexually abused her children at his request and direction.
She would take photographs or record videos to send to Howlett in exchange for thousands of pounds in payments.
A single victim was continually assaulted for years, generating 1,277 images depicting the horrors taking place.
All these images were found on Howlett’s devices and he also shared them in a conversation with another offender.
Howlett paid £11,777.48 to the single facilitator, who abused her child together with two siblings.
Investigators found Howlett had also been speaking to other facilitators.
In a conversation with one, he requested videos of a nine-year-old girl, stating he is unable to watch livestream abuse as he is at work.
He also contacted offenders using online messaging platforms and shared other abuse images through Dropbox.
In one discussion, Howlett said he was looking for images containing both boys and girls, sending money through the communication app to receive images of abuse.
Between 2014 and 2021, Howlett paid £55,918 to facilitators in the Philippines to sexually abuse children, making 796 separate transactions.
He was arrested by NCA officers on 1 July 2021 and investigators reviewed his electronic devices.
A total of 14,311 illegal images were recovered from Howlett’s devices.
More than 5,000 of those images were assessed by NCA investigators to have been created for and sent to Howlett as a result of the abuse he instigated and controlled.
Investigators found the images had been created from 2003 up until Howlett’s arrest.
NCA investigators worked closely with law enforcement in the Philippines throughout this case and the facilitators in the country are under investigation by police in the Philippines.
The NCA and Filipino authorities identified 19 children during this investigation who were subjected to sexual abuse as a result of Howlett’s offending who have now been safeguarded in the Philippines.
Howlett was due to stand trial in January 2025 but pleaded guilty early during the proceedings.
He was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment today at Canterbury Crown Court.
He will also be subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
The Judge described Howlett as showing “a breath-taking lack of regard for the sanctity of childhood”.
Adam Priestley, head of investigations at the NCA, said: “Patrick Howlett is a dangerous paedophile who has offended for many years, systematically identifying and exploiting vulnerable children in the Philippines and paying thousands of pounds for them to be sexually abused by those who should be protecting them.
“The NCA will continue to pursue men like Howlett who pose a significant sexual risk to children and fuel the continued abuse of these children as a way for their families to make money, as well as pursue justice for victims of abhorrent crimes like this.
“Our work with law enforcement in the Philippines will continue to ensure criminals sexually abusing children are brought to justice, irrespective of where they or their victims are, and to identify facilitators in the Philippines so children being subjected to these traumatic crimes can be identified and protected.
Sexual abuse of children, whatever the motivation, will not be tolerated.”
Julia McSorley, specialist prosecutor for the CPS’ Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said: “Patrick Howlett is a prolific paedophile who paid thousands of pounds to encourage others to abuse vulnerable children in the Philippines to satisfy his own desires. Those children were the victims of horrific sexual abuse at his instigation.
“Despite Howlett’s attempts to disguise his offending and his claims to be involved in charitable work, painstaking investigation from the NCA, in collaboration with the Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit in the CPS, built a picture of his crimes that was very difficult to deny. When presented with the weight of the evidence at the start of his trial, Howlett accepted his guilt.
“The fact that he encouraged individuals to abuse their own family members is particularly disturbing. Thankfully those children involved have been safeguarded and removed from the homes where this abuse took place.
“I hope this conviction sends a clear message that the CPS, working with law enforcement in the UK and abroad, will relentlessly pursue justice and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, wherever that abuse has taken place.”
