The twisted paedophile double life of former Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce chief Peter Tomlinson

A former chamber of commerce chief was jailed for eighteen years after he admitted to a secret double life as a twisted paedophile who orchestrated live-streamed abuse of girls as young as five in the Philippines.

Peter Tomlinson, 63, (pictured above) the former president of the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce was secretly arranging, directing and paying for the live-streamed sexual abuse of children thousands of miles away.

He was jailed at Newport Crown Court on Friday after earlier admitting 20 charges, including ten of paying for the sexual services of a girl under the age of 13 through coordinating the abuse.

When arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) in October 2019 at his home in Cowes, on the island, he said: “The thing you’re looking for is on my computer in there. It is my escape from reality. That is all it is.” Tomlinson paid £5,511 via 127 transactions to accounts in the Philippines between May 2015 and April 2017 for a mix of live-streamed child sexual abuse, involving at least 11 girls, and adult sex shows. In online messages, he said he would pay a Filipino woman £7.66 if she performed a sex act on a ten-year-old girl and repeatedly asked for “harder” abuse footage, spelling out what he wanted to see and then complaining about what he received. His electronic devices also contained 47 category A images (the most severe), 148 category B, 353 category C and 46 extreme images.

The NCA uncovered evidence that over a three-year period (2016-2019), he repeatedly paid facilitators for the live-streamed abuse of at least eleven young girls. The youngest was just five when the abuse began. In January 2018, Tomlinson paid £22 to view a live sex show he had requested involving the child. Investigators unearthed proof of thousands of messages between Tomlinson and the female facilitator – who has been arrested and the children safeguarded.

SHAMED: Tomlinson in a police mugshot after his arrest (NCA)

They exchanged 4,166 lines of chat on Skype – 358 indicated to be video calls and 3,809 text messages. In June 2018 he paid the woman £12.99 and then complained saying for that price: “I will expect a show with two girls for 30 minutes.” Communication between Tomlinson and the woman was at all times of the day and night with him telling her: “I am busy in meetings” and “I’m still working”.

During interview with NCA officers he admitted arranging, directing and paying for live streamed CSA and possessing indecent images of children.

Tomlinson pleaded guilty to the initial 12 counts put to him - which included paying for the abuse of two young girls and making indecent images of children, - at Newport Magistrates Court on 18 December 2020. NCA investigators charged him with the additional eight counts in February this year after proving he was responsible for the abuse of a further nine children in the Philippines.

Judge David Melville said Tomlinson was "depraved and dangerous" and that he derived significant sexual gratification from his crimes.

He said: "The thought of such activity is sickening to decent people. The idea a mother could be persuaded to do this to her children is appalling to right-thinking people and was doubtless brought on by the destitution of the people you were transferring what was in your life very modest sums of money but to them it was considerable sums of money.

"You represent as a very dangerous person as far as young girls are concerned."

NCA operations manager Phil Eccles said: “Peter Tomlinson believed he could carry out his sickening offences from the comfort of his own home and get away with it.

“He was directly responsible for the most heinous abuse of children thousands of miles away from him.

“Live-streaming sex crimes exploits the vulnerable; he was helped in this case by facilitators whose motive is to make money.

“Live-streaming is a key threat to the UK, and one of the main forms of financially-driven offending, for which the Philippines remains a key hub.

“The NCA does important work with international law enforcement partners in the Philippines to combat these sorts of crimes.

“Anyone like Tomlinson should know that the NCA and UK police will never give up our pursuit of offenders who commit these horrific crimes.”

Child protection charity The Lucy Faithfull Foundation also runs the Stop It Now! helpline – 0808 1000 900 – which offers confidential advice to anyone concerned about their own or someone else’s behaviour towards children.