A paedophile from Abingdon has been jailed for child sexual offences after police found a large number of indecent images and videos of children on his phone.

Mukesh Bharti, aged 46, of Overmead, was sentenced to 10 years in prison with an extended four years on licence at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday (October 24).

Following a nine-day trial, at the same court on October 21, a jury unanimously found Bharti guilty of three counts of causing the sexual exploitation of a child, along with three counts of inciting the sexual exploitation of a child.

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Six counts of making indecent photographs of children, one count of arranging the travel of another person with a view to exploitation and one count of possessing a prohibited image of a child at the same court.

While investigating two of Bharti’s mobile phones for an unrelated matter, officers found a large number of category A, B and C indecent images and videos of children.

There was also a significant amount of communication between Bharti and a large number of people overseas, such as Philippines and Thailand, which spanned from May 1, 2019 to September 21 last year.

Bharti was asking for and sending payment via Paypal for indecent images and videos of children of various ages.

Bharti also arranged for and directed people to sexually abuse boys and girls, aged between four and 16 years old, in the Philippines on live WhatsApp video calls to him, which he recorded.

Bharti was charged on December 1 last year.

The self-claimed hospital ‘research doctor’ sought to blame a friend turned drug-dealing blackmailer, named in court as ‘Vicky’ or ‘Vijay’, for the fact police found the indecent images on his phone.

But jurors rejected the claim that the Punjabi-speaking mystery man was responsible for arranging the sickening live shows, setting up his friend by ensuring Bharti’s face was in the screen recordings of WhatsApp video calls in which children were made to carry out obscene acts.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Sarah Osborne said: “I am pleased Mukesh Bharti will spend a significant amount of time in prison for the offences he has been convicted for.

“He has never shown any remorse for his despicable actions, which would have had a profound and long-lasting effect on the young victims in this case.

“I hope this conviction shows police are committed to tackling serious sexual offences against children, despite where in the world the abuse is happening.

“We will continue to support victims and bring offenders before the courts to face justice.”

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1