June 2001 Prison for Briton who went abroad for child sex A pornography-obsessed sex tourist was yesterday jailed for eight years after admitting abusing children in Cambodia in one of the first cases of its kind to be heard in Britain. Under legislation which allows Britons to be tried in this country for offences committed abroad, Mark Towner, a father of two, pleaded guilty to 14 charges of abusing minors. Maidstone crown court heard that – in one of the first cases brought under the 1997 Sex Offenders Act – two of Towner’s victims were seven- year-old girls he had hired for sex. Towner, 52, a safety officer from Cranbrook, Kent, who went to Cambodia on business in May last year, was arrested after his wife informed police about images she had found on his computer. He had taken pictures of himself carrying out lewd acts with children and emailed them back to Britain. The Home Office yesterday confirmed that only a handful of cases have been brought under the act, which enables police in this country to prosecute British citizens for sex and paedophile crimes perpetrated abroad. Passing sentence, Judge Warwick McKinnon told Towner he was a danger to children and gave him a long sentence to ensure that he would undergo rehabilitation. “These are acts of sexual abuse, grave, indeed they are quite horrendous and horrific offences,” the judge said. “Children as young as seven and no older than 10 are involved in degradation, and they were performed for your own perverted gratification. “You are a danger to young children, and the court must send out a message of determination against people who perform acts on one so young.” Towner’s wife ran crying from the court after discovering the full extent of his crimes. She had contacted police when she found two images on his computer that were taken off of the internet. She has since left him. Speaking outside the court Towner’s wife, who declined to be named, said she was sickened by what her husband had done. “I discovered the pictures on the computer and was utterly stunned,” she said. “They were disgusting. I want nothing more to do with him and will be getting a divorce.” Detective Constable Dave Canning said Towner had more than 600 images of children on his computer. “In my experience in almost 20 years of police service, these are probably the most appalling photographs that I have seen. This highlights particularly good use of new legislation by allowing the full weight of the law in this country to be brought to bear on Towner. “The new legislation has allowed us to charge for several serious offences in addition to possession of indecent photos.” Towner, who lost his job after being arrested, was charged with having sex with a child under the age of 13, three charges of indecent assault, and 10 of possessing gross images of a child. During the trial, the court heard Towner had developed an obsession with pornography. In 1987 he had been convicted of importing child pornography into the country. John O’Higgins, defending, said that Towner’s obsession started as an interest in adult pornography but over time degenerated into other forms. “He went to Cambodia where that country has a huge sex industry, and the availability of girls gave him the temptation where he would never have contemplated before. “The man who is before you is utterly destroyed, completely overwhelmed by what has occurred to him, and finds it difficult to come to terms with.” Mr O’Higgins added that Towner had an overwhelming feeling of self disgust and had undertaken treatment after contemplating committing suicide. Towner, wearing a pinstriped suit and glasses, showed no emotion as the sentence was passed. He was sentenced to eight years for having sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13, four years for each charge of indecent assault on a child, and 18 months for the 10 counts of making indecent photographs of a child, all to run concurrently.