Countdown contestant Craig Chittenden jailed for child sex abuse

Craig Chittenden reached the semi-final of the show as a 22-year-old student

A former Countdown contestant who encouraged the abuse of a child in the US has been jailed for 12 years.

Craig Chittenden, 33, of Willington, County Durham, persuaded a woman to abuse her daughter as he watched.

He was caught after arranging a visit online to abuse a child in the UK, but was snared by an undercover officer. When police visited his home, they found almost 1,000 indecent images.

At Durham Crown Court, he admitted seven sex offences.

Chittenden, of Hall Lane Estate, appeared on the Channel 4 show as a 22-year-old student in 2010, and enjoyed a winning streak before he was beaten in the semi-final.

'Emotionless and detached'

Police in Durham were alerted by FBI special agents in Dallas, Texas, that he had been exchanging messages with a suspect who had been abusing her child while he watched. She has also been jailed.

Chittenden pleaded guilty to a charge of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sexual offence, inciting the sexual exploitation of girl under 13, possessing extreme pornography, distributing indecent photographs and three counts of making indecent photographs.

Prosecutor Jane Waugh said Chittenden shared 24 indecent images of children during a conversation with another paedophile in February 2020, where he discussed the kidnapping, rape and murder of a young child.

She said when arrested and interviewed by detectives, he dismissed the discussions as "fantasy and escapism".

'Fallen down a rabbit hole'

The court heard that when police visited his home they found almost 1,000 abuse images and over four hours of video footage, as well as extreme animal pornography.

Multiple devices were seized and examined which revealed Chittenden had been making contact with paedophiles in the US and inciting sexual acts on young children.

Chittenden described a planned visit to the south of England to abuse a child as a "fantasy" and that he had "fallen down a rabbit hole" into new areas of abuse.

Sentencing, Judge Ray Singh said Chittenden had "remained emotionless and detached".

"There was a clear interest in sadistic torture, extreme violence and sexual offences towards children," he said.

"In my view you are a dangerous offender."

Det Con Georgina Lewis from Durham Police said: "Chittenden is a sexual predator who tried to hide his crimes online and encourage like-minded individuals in the USA to carry out sex acts on children.

"This was a complex investigation but thanks to the collaborative investigative efforts between Texas police and ourselves he was left with no option but to plead guilty."