Former BBC Journalist Duncan Bartlett Pleads Guilty To 35 Child Sex Abuse Offences

A former BBC journalist has been jailed for eight years for a string of child abuse offences, including paying money to watch live streams of children being sexually exploited in the Philippines. According to the BBC, 52-year-old Duncan Bartlett was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court in London after pleading guilty to 35 offences in August. The police said Bartlett, who worked as a BBC journalist for 14 years until 2015, was first arrested in September 2021, after they received intelligence which linked him to accessing indecent images of children. 

The Metropolitan Police seized Bartlett’s electronic devices which uncovered 6,000 indecent images, per the BBC. They also found evidence he made payments to people in the Philippines who would arrange live films of children being sexually exploited for Bartlett to watch. The cops said that some of the victims have been identified and put under safeguarding measures in the Philippines. 

Bartlett was the BBC’s correspondent in Tokyo and presented “World Business Report” on the BBC World Service.

According to The Independent, the 52-year-old pleaded guilty to 11 counts of causing a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, nine counts of causing a girl 13-15 to engage in sexual activity, 10 counts of paying for the sexual services of a girl under 13, three charges of making indecent images of children, and two offences of encouraging the commission of either way offences. 

“Over a period of seven years, Bartlett made multiple payments to people in the Philippines asking that they arrange children to be sexually exploited for his own gratification. With close liaison work with our counterparts in the Philippines, we managed to identify and safeguard some of these children while several adults were arrested,” said Detective Constable Emily Dawson. 

“Bartlett’s behaviour was utterly abhorrent but thanks to the painstaking work of detectives, a case documenting his offending was put together – this left him with no option but to admit his guilt,” she added. 

Also Read | Criminals in UK Working From Home To Complete Community Sentences

The BBC reported that Bartlett continued working as a researcher and expert in China at London’s SOAS University until after his guilty plea. He apparently did not tell his employer about his offending and the university did not discover the details of the case until yesterday, December 9. A spokeswoman for SOAS confirmed Bartlett was a research associate and contractor at the London University’s China Institute between 1 January 2021 and 30 September 2024.

“Although not a permanent member of staff or in a student-facing role, he was paid as a contractor to produce a series of podcasts about China, producing his last edition in September 2024. Neither SOAS nor the SOAS China Institute were aware of any legal proceedings before we were contacted by the media about this case today,” the spokesperson said.