Woman Admits Live-Streaming Child Abuse After Dark Web Sting
A 33-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to four counts of child sexual abuse, including live-streaming herself abusing a young girl over nearly three years. Christine Callaghan was paid £2,285 by Dean Petley, 30, to carry out the abuse via Skype.
Paedophile Duo Exposed in National Crime Agency Crackdown
Callaghan admitted the charges yesterday at Isleworth Crown Court. Petley, an automotive engineer from Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, pleaded guilty to 11 offences last month and was sentenced to eight years behind bars at the same hearing.
The pair’s crimes came to light through a major National Crime Agency (NCA) probe into Jodie Little, 30, who was jailed for over 12 years for online child abuse. Little used sinister online aliases “Devil Bitch 666” and “DomTabooSlut” to target children from her home in northern Cyprus.
Encrypted Evidence Unravels Web of Abuse
- Little’s devices revealed that Petley paid her £750 between 2017 and 2018 to perform sex acts in front of children.
- Petley received disturbing images and videos from Little, including footage of her abusing a very young girl.
- Further investigation led to Petley’s arrest in May after encrypted files at his home uncovered conversations and videos with Callaghan detailing abuse.
- Callaghan’s files showed her abusing the same young girl on at least 10 occasions from 2016 to 2018, with five indecent images also recovered.
NCA Vows to Hunt Abusers Wherever They Hide
“Distance is not a barrier for the NCA in pursuing UK child sex offenders wherever they are,” said Jason Booth, NCA operations manager. “These were horrendous crimes, but they’re an example of what the NCA is seeing more and more with increasingly worsening cyber-enabled child sexual offending.”
The NCA and UK police arrest roughly 500 child sex offenders each month and protect about 700 children. Booth added: “There is no greater priority for us than protecting children.”
If you’re concerned about yourself or someone else, confidential advice is available via the Stop It Now! helpline run by The Lucy Faithfull Foundation.
