ALAIN COLLINGS FROM WITHERIDGE INVOLVED IN DEVON AND PHILIPPINES CHILD ABUSE SCANDAL

In May 2017, a disturbing case involving the heinous crimes of Alain Collings, a resident of Witheridge near Tiverton, came to light as he was sentenced for a series of severe child abuse offenses. Collings, aged 39 at the time, was found guilty of orchestrating and participating in the sexual exploitation of children both in the Philippines and in the United Kingdom, with his activities spanning several years and involving multiple victims.

According to court records, Collings paid a total of £33,000 to women in Manila, Philippines, to facilitate the abuse of up to 46 children and babies. These heinous acts were recorded at his home in Devon, where he watched the abuse unfold via Skype. Court proceedings revealed that Collings actively typed messages instructing the women and children on what to do during these recordings, sometimes appearing in a small box on the screen to observe the acts directly. His disturbing communications included telling young girls as young as eight that he planned to 'pop them' during his next visit to the Philippines, and he made it clear he was masturbating while watching their suffering.

He assigned nicknames such as Bambi and Sugar Pea to the older girls and exposed himself to them through the video chat. Two 12-year-old girls were told they were 'happy because they had seen the monster,' a reference to Collings himself. Police investigations uncovered a staggering 102 hours of recorded abuse, which included between 35 and 46 different girls aged approximately two to 15, depicted across 261 videos and nearly 2,000 still images. These recordings provided crucial evidence linking Collings to the crimes.

Further evidence revealed that Collings had established a relationship with a woman while living in the Philippines. Two still images from 2011 showed him abusing a two-year-old girl. Detectives enlisted the help of an anatomy expert to compare his hands, and they also identified him through distinctive jewelry and a tattoo on his arm. Collings, who was living at Chappell Road, Witheridge, near Tiverton, admitted to multiple charges, including two counts of sexual assault on a child, five counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, three counts of arranging sexual offenses against children, and seven counts of making or possessing indecent images of children.

He was sentenced to 18 years in prison, with an extended license period of eight years, by Recorder Mr. David Bartlett at Exeter Crown Court. Additionally, Collings was placed on the sex offenders register for life and subjected to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which will restrict his access to children upon his release. The judge described the case as one of the most severe he had encountered, condemning Collings' behavior as abhorrent and highlighting the physical and psychological harm inflicted on the victims. The judge emphasized that Collings set up the abuse, directed the acts, and watched the recordings from his bed, demonstrating a deeply disturbed and dangerous mindset.

Prosecutor Miss Janice Eagles explained that Collings had been married to a Filipino woman but separated from her. She had four sisters, and some of the victims were believed to be related to her. The woman appeared in two still images showing Collings abusing a two-year-old girl in 2011. Collings returned to Britain later that year due to visa issues and to care for his terminally ill mother, who has since passed away. He then moved into his family home with his father and brother, continuing his criminal activities by arranging for his girlfriend and other women to carry out abuse in the Philippines, which he watched and recorded via Skype.

The police investigation uncovered that Collings was also downloading illegal images from the internet. His IP address was linked to accessing prohibited sites, which led to his detection. High-tech crime unit experts examined his computers and recovered the extensive recordings. The footage, described as first-generation abuse images, depicted actual abuse and was recorded under the username 'robert.redwood4' during his Skype chats. Prosecutor Eagles detailed that Collings directed the abuse, instructing adult women in the Philippines to carry out acts on children, with some chat logs revealing his explicit requests and intentions. For example, he asked a 13-year-old girl to allow him to 'pop her' when he visited, and he expressed a desire to have sex with 12-year-old twins during his next trip.

In April 2017, Collings admitted to multiple charges, including sexual touching and inciting children to engage in sexual activities, involving girls aged 11 to 13 between 2011 and 2014. He also pleaded guilty to facilitating sexual offenses abroad between December 2014 and March 2015, and to making indecent images of children, with a total of 314 images and videos, some depicting severe abuse. Judge Parker scheduled the case for further sentencing after reviewing a probation report, which would assess whether Collings posed a danger to society. Collings was released on bail, required to register as a sex offender immediately, and ordered to comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to restrict his contact with minors.