PHILLIP THOMPSON FROM OLDHAM AND ROYTON SENTENCED FOR CHILD SEX OFFENCES AND ONLINE PREDATION

In a disturbing series of events that have shocked the communities of Oldham and Royton, Phillip Thompson, aged 66, has been found guilty of a range of serious sexual offences involving children and online predatory behavior. Thompson, who has no fixed address but is known to have connections in both Oldham and Royton, appeared at Minshull Street Crown Court to face justice after admitting to multiple charges related to child exploitation and indecent imagery.

It was revealed during the court proceedings that Thompson, a former detention officer for Greater Manchester Police, had engaged in highly disturbing online activities. On December 22, 2021, he initiated contact with what he believed was a couple on an unregistered mobile device. The online profile he targeted claimed to be a family with three young children, including a non-verbal 10-year-old with autism, a seven-year-old, and a two-year-old. In reality, Thompson was communicating with an undercover police officer posing as the mother of the children.

Thompson’s messages were deeply troubling. He sent indecent photographs of children to the profile and requested images of the children themselves. In his messages, he explicitly stated that he was interested in underage children, claiming that “underage” was his “passion” and that he had “no limit” on how young he would go. Prosecutor Lisa Boocock explained that Thompson attempted to persuade the family that he was suitable to have sexual contact with their children, even confessing to the online profile that he was “sick” of talking to people online only to discover they were “not real.”

Further criminal history was disclosed, including a previous sentence handed down on June 25, 2020, when Thompson received four and a half years in prison and was subject to a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO). This earlier conviction stemmed from his messaging a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, but who was actually a paedophile hunter group. Despite being on licence, Thompson continued his predatory behavior, arranging to meet a family near Surrey on January 7 and 8, 2021. He planned to stay at a hotel, bringing pornography to watch with the children and inquiring whether he should bring condoms.

His plans were thwarted when he was arrested at Toddington service station on the M1 on January 7. Police found in his possession a suitcase containing lubricant, condoms, and swimwear. A mobile phone recovered from him contained over 1,000 indecent images of children, including 538 images classified as Category A—the most serious—comprising 330 moving images. The images depicted children aged from just one month to 12 years old, with the majority being under seven. The images were categorized into three levels of severity, with Category A being the most heinous.

Further investigation revealed that Thompson had been messaging a 13-year-old girl online under the false identity of her mother and father. He sent her Category A images and persuaded her to send him naked pictures of herself. During their conversations, Thompson arranged to meet her and claimed he would pick her up in his car. The police also uncovered that Thompson had been messaging a girl of similar age under the guise of a parent, encouraging her to engage in sexual activities and touching herself.

Judge McLoughlin, presiding over the case, emphasized the danger Thompson posed to the public. He noted that Thompson had demonstrated “sexually depraved behavior” and was willing to travel to meet children and teenagers he believed to be real. The judge highlighted that Thompson’s actions constituted a “catalogue of serious sexual offences,” and he was deemed a significant threat to children and the community.

Consequently, Thompson was sentenced to 13 years in prison for engaging in sexual communication with a child, distributing and making indecent images of children, possessing prohibited images, and breaching his SHPO. Additionally, he was subjected to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

In a related incident from June 2020, Thompson was confronted at his home in Royton by paedophile hunters after he attempted to meet a girl he believed to be 13. Thompson had sent explicit images and asked whether she was a “good girl,” arranging to meet near a Morrisons supermarket. When he failed to appear, he was ambushed at his residence and detained in a citizen’s arrest streamed live on social media. Police investigations revealed that Thompson had been messaging under the alias ‘abseiler D’ on the Kik and IB messaging platforms, attempting to groom a girl and persuade her to meet for sexual activity.

During police interviews, Thompson admitted to sending messages but claimed he thought he was talking to an adult because of the speed of their replies. Judge Angela Nield described his actions as a betrayal of good character and emphasized the vulnerability of children online. She sentenced him to three and a half years in prison, imposed a 10-year SHPO, and ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life, reflecting the severity of his crimes and the danger he posed to society.