PHILIP MATTHEWS CAUGHT IN UNDERCOVER STING AFTER TRAVELING FROM WHITEFIELD TO LONDON TO ABUSE MEOPHAM SCHOOLGIRL

In a disturbing case that highlights the ongoing efforts to combat child exploitation, Philip Matthews, a 38-year-old man from Whitefield, Manchester, was apprehended after traveling a significant distance with the intent to commit heinous acts against an innocent child. The incident unfolded in March 2014, when Matthews journeyed from his home in Whitefield to Baker Street in London, with the purpose of meeting a woman he had been communicating with online.

Throughout their digital correspondence, Matthews expressed disturbing intentions, detailing plans to sexually abuse an eight-year-old girl from Meopham. He also suggested giving her alcohol beforehand, indicating a premeditated desire to facilitate the abuse. These communications were carried out via email, chat rooms, and telephone calls, with Matthews providing explicit descriptions of the acts he wished to perform.

Unbeknownst to Matthews, he was not communicating with a real person but with an undercover police officer. The woman he was speaking with was part of an undercover operation aimed at catching individuals attempting to exploit children. When Matthews arrived in London for the planned meeting, his intentions were thwarted by the intervention of detectives from the Kent Police child exploitation investigation team. The officers swiftly arrested him on suspicion of arranging a child sex offence.

Following his arrest, Matthews pleaded guilty to the charges. On May 14, he was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court to six years in prison. Additionally, he was subjected to an indefinite sexual offences prevention order, and he will be registered on the sex offender register for life, ensuring ongoing monitoring of his activities.

Detective Inspector David Shipley of Kent Police expressed his views on the case, stating, “Matthews knew exactly what he was doing when he traveled from Manchester to meet someone in order to abuse an eight-year-old child. His protestations after arrest that he merely wanted to tell this individual to stop ruining the child’s life shows that he knows full well the impact that such abuse can have. There are a number of ways he could help children, and it starts by not engaging in such vile behaviour in the first place. I am glad that once again the child exploitation investigation team has been able to make Kent a safer place for children by bringing to justice another individual who had every intention of abusing a child in this county.”