Prosecutors’ international work helps convict child abusers around globe

A 59-year-old man who paid money to sexually exploit young children in South East Asia has today been sentenced to 19 years in jail, with an extended licence of six years due to the dangerousness of his offending.

Ian Wynter, from Loughborough, paid a father in the Philippines seven times to abuse his son on video calls between 2019 and 2020. Wynter also discussed travelling to the country so he could abuse the boy himself. The father of the child was jailed in January 2021 for his offending.

On a visit to Thailand, when messaging a person in the country who could procure boys Wynter boasted about the abuse. This helped prosecutors demonstrate to the court that Wynter had instructed the abuse to occur.

Wynter also paid an Indonesian man to abuse a young boy in 2018, making five payments in total. He had online conversations with a person who claimed to have access to children in Malaysia for sexual abuse, which Wynter said he would pay for in cash.

Working closely with the National Crime Agency, the CPS was able to present a case which demonstrated the serious nature of Wynter’s offending.

Wynter pleaded guilty at Leicester Crown Court, on 31 May 2022, to 13 offences, including taking an indecent photograph of a child, distributing indecent images of children via social media channels and possessing more than 15,000 indecent images of children. Wynter received a 19-year jail term, with an extended licence of six years due to the dangerousness of his offending.As part of his sentence, he has been banned from visiting countries in South East Asia for five years.

Bethany Raine, CPS Specialist Prosecutor, said: “Wynter demonstrated sickening depravity by paying adults to sexually abuse children in video calls and exploiting innocent children in other parts of the world.

“This conviction sends a clear message that the CPS, working alongside the NCA and international partners, will work to bring to justice those who sexually abuse and exploit children, wherever that abuse takes place.

“Working with our international partners we have also been able to help the Filipino courts jail one of the abusers Wynter encouraged in his appalling search for sexual gratification.”

This case was prosecuted by the newly set up Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit at the CPS, whose specialist prosecutors help combat child abuse in the UK and across the world by bringing offenders to justice. The unit is closely aligned to our international team, which can help prosecutors in other countries secure convictions where offences take place across borders.