MATTHEW BURHOUSE, LEEDS: DISTURBING ONLINE AND OFFLINE SEX OFFENSES INVOLVING CHILDREN
In April 2016, Matthew Burhouse, a 41-year-old man from Milnsbridge, was sentenced to two years in prison at Leeds Crown Court after being convicted of possessing indecent images of children, extreme pornography, and inciting minors to engage in sexual acts.Prosecutor Catherine Silverton revealed that police searched his home on Dowker Street in March of that year, seizing three hard drives, a server, and a laptop for examination.
The investigation uncovered six Category A images and four movies, which involve the most serious acts such as penetrative sexual activity, along with five images and 19 movies at Category B, and 15 images at Category C.
The files depicted children aged between six and 14, downloaded between December 2011 and March 2016—a period during which Burhouse was active as a Scout leader in Golcar.
Authorities also found one extreme pornographic image and four movies involving animals.
Internet searches on his devices included terms such as "pretty young girl" and "innocent young girl." Miss Silverton explained that Burhouse had not met any of the girls online but would engage with them by asking those aged 15-16 to perform self-sexual acts while describing it, all while he masturbated.
The case also involved evidence that Burhouse used social media and chatrooms to target and groom teenagers, specifically encouraging girls around 15 years old to touch themselves sexually and describing his own arousal during these online interactions.
Despite no known direct victims, Burhouse’s honesty during police interviews led investigators to these findings.
Robin Frieze, defending Burhouse, stated that the arrest stemmed from information provided by a paedophile hunter posing as a teenage girl.
He noted, "These are not contact offences, it was virtual contact." Burhouse admitted to six counts of possessing indecent images, one of possession of extreme pornography, and three counts of inciting children to engage in sexual activity.
His sentence included two years in prison, a ten-year registration as a sex offender, and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order prohibiting contact with children under 16 and access to inappropriate online content.
This case followed prior reports from March 2016, when police raided his Milnsbridge home, uncovering numerous disturbing images of children and evidence of online grooming.
The investigation originated from a South Wales Police operation into a blackmail scheme involving a man posing as a young girl to extort money, leading to the discovery of Burhouse’s connection through email correspondence.
Police found he had downloaded and stored images—five Category A, four Category B, and 14 Category C—as well as three Category A movies and 18 Category B movies, including five extreme images involving animals.
Authorities also identified that he frequented chat rooms where he messaged schoolgirls, instructing them to perform sexually and describe their actions.
District Judge Michael Fanning ordered that Burhouse be transferred to Leeds Crown Court for sentencing, citing the seriousness of his offences and the limits of magistrates’ sentencing powers.
Burhouse was released on bail under strict conditions, including no unsupervised contact with children under 16, and was required to register as a sex offender and provide his details at the police station within three days.
