Chris Sanders, a 50-year-old British horror film producer, was sentenced to 32 months in prison at Leicester Crown Court on Tuesday after admitting to paying men and women in the Philippines to sexually abuse young girls while he watched via webcam. He also pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse images.
Details of the Offences
The offences took place in 2017 and 2018, with Sanders paying daily rates to watch what he called a “show” via Skype. The conversations with individuals in the Philippines were largely held in private chats inaccessible to authorities, but accessible chats revealed abuse including the exposure of underage girls’ genitals and breasts. Five “vulnerable” children were involved, according to prosecutor James Varley.
Sanders, described on IMDb as a “prolific British screenwriter, director, actor, and producer,” made several disturbing requests that the adults refused. He asked a woman to cut her 15-year-old niece’s face, suggested he had a baby and wanted ideas for torturing it, and requested cruelty to a small animal or for a child to eat an insect. He also asked a woman to burn her daughter with a cigarette.
Investigation and Discovery
Sanders’ crimes came to light after a sting operation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which led to the arrest of individuals making money from the abuse. Investigators found six people in the UK who had paid for child abuse, including Sanders. Eleven children were rescued from the home of one man Sanders had communicated with.
Prosecutor Varley noted that Sanders paid only £233 in total for days of “shows,” stating, “The sums of money paid, by our standards, are modest but a little goes a long way in the Philippines.” Sanders’ electronic devices contained searches for child sexual abuse and incest, and he had 20 child abuse images accessed between 2020 and 2024.
Court Proceedings and Sentencing
Defence counsel Christopher Tehrani KC presented a letter from Sanders, saying, “He is a man who has seen the errors of his ways. He has taken steps to address all that is wrong with him. He accepts full responsibility for his actions and doesn't seek to make excuses for his actions.” Tehrani argued that Sanders’ film career would suffer, and U.S. visa rules would hinder his ability to work there.
Recorder Francesca Levett, sentencing, told Sanders: “Your sexual preoccupation with children has been longstanding. This was not grooming of a child by pretending to care for them - this is a cold, hard payment of cash for their sexual exploitation.” She said he caused “serious and degrading acts” to at least five real children, and of the £233 payment, “That a child's wellbeing was worth so little in your eyes is utterly deplorable.”
Sanders was jailed for 32 months, given a lifetime sexual harm prevention order, and placed on the sex offenders register for life.
