Married Teacher Sentenced To 20 Months In Prison For Watching Live Stream Of 6-Year-Old Boy Being Raped
A married school teacher in England was sentenced to 20 months in prison on Tuesday for watching a live stream of a 6-year-old boy being raped in the United States, BBC News reports. Investigators say 43-year-old Wayne Brookes, of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, was given a 10-digit code to join 45 other pedophiles in an online chat room.
On one occasion, Brookes, who worked as an infant teacher at Westleigh Infant School for 10 years, sat half-naked at his computer watching a live stream of a boy being raped. Authorities say Brookes would watch videos, one involving a 6-month-old baby, of sexual assault late at night at his home, hiding his secret attraction to children from his partner.
The teacher would use the profile name Bear to access the online chat room, police say.
During an operation by the National Crime Agency, Brookes was caught and arrested at his home, where more than 100 photos and videos of child abuse were discovered. His computer was forfeited, including a USB stick.
Brookes reportedly admitted to officers that he watched a child being raped on a live stream on four occasions. He pleaded guilty to four counts of making indecent images of children, and he appeared before Judge Martin Picton on Tuesday at the Bristol Crown Court for his sentencing.
Teacher jailed for watching live stream of child rape https://t.co/olz6Zr739U
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) August 1, 2017
Defense attorney Virginia Cornwall told the court that her client has “demonstrated remorse” for his actions, and “he understands his criminality.” She went on to say that the teacher did not distribute any indecent material, and he was unaware that the video he was watching was live.
Before the sentencing, the judge told Brookes that if he would have “offended in this way when you were working as a teacher, responsible for young children, it would have caused alarm and distress to the community—parents, fellow teachers, and pupils would have been horrified by the revelation that one of their educators chose to offend in this way outside of school life.”
“There is no suggestion that you accessed any indecent images at work or that you offended against any of the children that were in your care at that time.”
Brookes began to sob after learning that he would spend the next 20 months behind prison bars.
Investigators say another man, William Chandler Augusta, of Pennsylvania, who raped the children and broadcasted the sexual assault on live stream, was arrested in February of this year. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The victims have been identified and the necessary precautions were taken.
Brookes resigned from his position as a teacher, and he has since been banned from working with children in the future. He was also given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order in an effort to stop him from re-offending.
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