A former BBC journalist has been jailed for eight years for a string of child abuse offences, including paying to watch live streams of children being sexually abused in the Philippines. Duncan Bartlett, 52, was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court in London in August after pleading guilty to 35 crimes, according to the BBC. Police said Bartlett, who worked as a BBC journalist for 14 years until 2015, was first arrested in September 2021 after they received intelligence linking him to accessing indecent images of children.
The Metropolitan Police seized Bartlett’s electronic devices, revealing 6,000 indecent images. BBCThey also found evidence that he had paid people in the Philippines who provided live films of sexually abused children for Bartlett to watch. Police said some of the victims have been identified and are being held under protective measures in the Philippines.
Bartlett was the BBC’s correspondent in Tokyo and presented “World Business Report” on the BBC World Service.
according to IndependentThe 52-year-old man pleaded guilty to 11 counts of inducing a girl under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity, nine counts of inducing a girl aged 13-15 to engage in sexual activity, including paying for the sexual services of a girl. Pleaded guilty on 10 counts. Three charges of making indecent photographs of children under 13, and two charges of encouraging the commission of a crime by any means.
“Over a period of seven years, Bartlett made numerous payments to people in the Philippines and asked them to arrange for children to be sexually exploited for his own gratification. With close contacts with his counterparts in the Philippines, we are able to identify some And managed to keep these children safe while a number of adults were arrested,” said Detective Constable Emily Dawson.
He said, “Bartlett’s behavior was completely disgusting, but thanks to the painstaking work of detectives, a case was built documenting his guilt – leaving him no choice but to plead guilty.”
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BBC Bartlett was reported to have continued to work as a researcher and expert on China at SOAS University of London until his conviction. He apparently did not tell his employer about his offending and the university did not receive details of the case until yesterday, 9 December. A SOAS spokesperson confirmed that Bartlett was a research associate and contractor at the China Institute, University of London, from 1 January 2021. 30 September 2024.
“Although he was not a permanent member of staff or in a student-facing role, he was paid as a contractor to produce a series of podcasts about China, which produced its last edition in September 2024 Neither SOAS nor the SOAS China Institute were aware that legal proceedings had commenced before we were contacted by the media today,” the spokesperson said.
