Man jailed for paying to watch children being abused

Sidney Morris was jailed for 16 years at Bristol Crown Court

A man who paid thousands of dollars to watch children being exploited has been jailed.

Sidney Morris, 55, from Brompton Road in Weston-super-Mare, was jailed for 16 years at Bristol Crown Court on Monday.

He was arrested on 1 November 2023 from his home after an investigation started by police officers in the West Midlands.

Officers discovered he had paid more than $14,000 (£11,182) to people abroad to exploit children in photos discovered on his devices.

Morris pleaded guilty to 15 counts, including:

• One count of attempting to cause / incite a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity

• One count of attempting to cause / incite a girl aged 13-15 to engage in sexual activity

• Seven counts of attempting to arrange / facilitate commission of child sex offence

• Three counts of making indecent photos of a child

• Three attempts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

When he was arrested, police found 574 indecent images of children, including 84 considered the most serious.

All of them showed children from an Asian country as young as four being sexually exploited.

Police believe he used different payment methods to buy the images, so the amount he spent is likely to be far greater than $14,000.

'Significant risk'

Det Con Benn Murphy from Avon and Somerset Police said: "Morris poses a very real and significant risk to children.

"He has tried to hide his actions behind the anonymity of the internet and by targeting vulnerable people both in the UK and abroad.

"The true scale of harm he has caused is unlikely to ever truly be known but we continue to make every effort to identify and safeguard individuals affected by this investigation."