Colchester paedophile Christopher Behn sees jail time extended

Retired engineer Christopher Behn, of Mersea Road, Colchester, regularly travelled to Asia to groom and sexually abuse children over a ten-year period.

He was identified by National Crime Agency investigators as a member of a Europe-wide network who travelled together to abuse children across the globe.

Behn, 68, is currently serving nine years in prison for a snapshot of his offending - the abuse of 11 children in Myanmar in 2016.

He was arrested at Gatwick Airport by the NCA in 2020 after investigators identified him as appearing in images with another member of the network, a Dutch man who was convicted in the Netherlands.

He was prosecuted for these offences however the investigation continued.

In August, Behn pleaded guilty to a further 21 charges, including four counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and 17 counts of sexual assault of a child under 13.

Mark Gadsden, prosecuting, told the court there were eight videos and at least 254 images taken at the time.

These covered 17 different occasions of “significant abuse” and involved at least ten victims.

The court also heard both Behn and the Dutch national had written diaries which described in graphic detail the abuse committed by the pair on many of these trips.

The NCA provided 12 journals detailing 12 trips, two of which were written by Behn himself.

Abuser - Christopher Behn (Image: National Crime Agency)

Sentencing Behn, who appeared via video link, Mr Recorder Khalil KC said he and his Dutch accomplice travelled to places they knew the protection of children was “minimal compared to his home country”.

“It was a campaign of serious sexual offending over a prolonged period of time, he added.

The 68-year-old was handed an 11-year prison sentence and six years on extended licence.

All counts will be served concurrently and will run in line with the current sentence being served.

Behn was also made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and was banned from foreign travel for five years.

Phil Eccles, Operations Manager at the NCA, said: “The scale, collaboration and commitment of this transnational child sexual abuse network is unprecedented.
 
“Behn and like-minded associates conducted their offending in remote parts of the world, conspiring together via encrypted chats in the hope of hiding from law enforcement.

"They then catalogued and shared these images between them, further victimising these children.
 
“It is evident that significant planning went into every trip taken by the group for well over a decade, all of which centred around abusing vulnerable children.
 
“However, thanks to joint work with our partners across Europe, including Europol and police in The Netherlands, these men are now being exposed.
 
“Protecting children is a priority for the NCA and international borders are not a barrier. We are dedicated to targeting the highest harm offenders wherever they are in the world, and working with overseas partners to ensure Britons committing abuse abroad will face justice in the UK.”