As he spent his days huddled over his laptop, thousands of miles away children were being sexually abused for money
16.05.2023 - 06:01
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Bernard Grace lived a solitary life.
The 72-year-old was bound to his wheelchair following a leg amputation, and so his only source of communication with the outside world was through his Apple MacBook Air.
His family, including his eight children, were estranged from him and live miles away in Scotland.
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And so his sordid secret remained hidden.
Meanwhile, in October 2020, the National Crime Agency was investigating a series of suspicious payments made to various Filipino women, including one woman who was under investigation for sex trafficking offences.
Up to 600 payments had been made to the women, from a Halifax bank account, totalling nearly £21,000.
Their investigations led them to Grace’s door in Wythenshawe.
Executing a search warrant, they found his laptop and conducted a thorough examination. It revealed horrific and depraved abuse.
Officers poured through thousands of Skype messages within 23 chats. In each chat, Filipino women were directed and manipulated by Grace to live stream the sexual abuse of children.
Months later, in March 2021, the brazen paedophile was found sitting at his computer doing the same thing when his offender manager walked in.
Admitting numerous offences of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, as well as making indecent images, Grace has finally been jailed.
Manchester Crown Court heard that Grace spoke to the women, most of which he had met on Facebook, before moving the conversation over to Skype so they could video call.
"These women were endeavouring to make ends meet, to better themselves and the lives of their children in relation to education," prosecutor Rosalind Scott-Bell