Online predator sentenced to 16 years’ jail for ordering sexual abuse of girls in Philippines
A public servant who ordered the sexual abuse of young girls in the Philippines as he watched via webcam from Adelaide has learnt his fate. Police have rescued 15 of the victims.
A veteran public servant has been sentenced to 16 years’ jail for ordering the sexual abuse of young girls in the Philippines as he watched via webcam from his Adelaide home.
Fifteen victims were rescued and five women arrested in the Philippines over the abuse ordered and paid for by Ian Schapel, 68, who was sentenced in the District Court of South Australia on Wednesday.
Schapel pleaded guilty in February last year to 50 offences, including charges relating to viewing, remotely instructing and recording the sexual abuse of children on 55 occasions between March 2018 and January 2020.
Police believe the youngest child was aged just three when first abused.
Images released by the Australian Federal Police show the girls being taken to safety, while women – including some of the mothers of the victims – were arrested.
In a landmark case, the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Task Force sought to confiscate Schapel’s home because he had used the property as an instrument of crime to commit the offences.
It was the first time authorities had sought to confiscate the home of a person charged with child sex offences using federal proceeds of crime and confiscation laws, as revealed in The Australian in December 2020.
The confiscation proceedings were settled late last year, with Schapel paying the Commonwealth $165,000, or half the value of his home.
Schapel was a senior HR manager with the South Australian Department of Premier and Cabinet.
His abuse of the children was discovered after Australian Border Force officers found child abuse material on his mobile phone when he arrived in Melbourne on an international flight in February 2020.
He was charged and the case was assigned to the South Australia Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team, comprising federal and state police.
Digital forensic examinations of his data storage devices uncovered more than 55,000 images and videos of child abuse.
After further investigations he was found to be communicating with adult “facilitators” in the Philippines to procure children, who were forced to perform sexually explicit acts on camera, which he watched live from Adelaide.
AFP intelligence about the suspected identities of the facilitators was referred to the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Centre.
Local investigations resulted in search warrants being executed in Bislig City in the country’s east in August 2020.
Fifteen victims were removed from harm, including two who were young adults by the time they were identified.
The five women arrested, aged between 18 and 29, remained before the courts in the Philippines.
One was allegedly offering her nine-year-old niece, 12-year-old cousin and 18-year-old best friend to offenders online.
Schapel will serve at least 10 years before he is eligible for parole.
AFP Commander Central Erica Merrin said Schapel had “preyed on the economic vulnerability of the people involved” as he ordered specific abuse to happen.
“Children are being forced into the most appalling violence and torment on camera by the people who are meant to love and to protect them,” Commander Merrin said.
“The abuse is then live-streamed to customers in western nations. Shamefully that includes Australia.”
AFP International Command Detective Superintendent Andrew Perkins said the rescues and arrests “are a powerful reminder of why the AFP works closely with partners around the globe”.
ABF Chief Superintendent Bart England said the sentence sent a strong message of deterrence.
“The ABF will continue to use all resources at its disposal to counter this appalling activity,” he said.
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