A homeless man, who travelled around 150 miles (over 241 kilometres) to rape a 12-year-old girl, was sentenced to seven years in prison by a UK court on Friday (Feb 21).

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The man, identified as 48-year-old Wayne Philip Phillipson, had a previous history of child sex offences.

Horrifying details emerge

A trial at the High Court in Livingston in August 2024 found Phillipson guilty of assaulting the victim, a 12-year-old schoolgirl he met on social media photo-sharing app Snapchat. 

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In September 2021, over a period of three days, the man who hails from Durham sent the young girl a series of obscene messages and images. He then travelled approximately 150 miles (241.4 kilometres) to the West Lothian area the same month, after arranging to meet the child.

He then took her to a wooded area and subjected the young child to violent sexual assault and rape. The 12-year-old victim managed to escape and went to the police. The rapist Phillipson was tracked down by authorities soon after.

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During the trial, the monstrous man admitted to two charges of breaching bail conditions and was imprisoned for a minimum of seven years under the Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR). His name has also been added to the sex offenders' register indefinitely, as per the Crown Office and Procurator Office.  

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Philip Phillipson's past crimes

As per Daily Record, Phillipson was in February 2024 sentenced to eight and-a-half years in jail after being convicted of a series of sex crimes against children across the UK.

The homeless man would manipulate children on social media apps Snapchat and Wink, pushing them to share nude, indecent images. He was also habitual of travelling in pursuit of meeting his young victims. On one such trip, he was arrested in the heart of Wrexham on June 9, 2022. 

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Police discovered over 100 indecent pictures on his phone and evidence of connections with over two dozen 12-14-year-old kids UK-wide. This shocking case follows a report that noted almost 3,000 child sexual abuse images in Scotland over five years, have links to Snapchat.

Katrina Parkes, Scotland’s Procurator Fiscal for High Court Sexual Offending, said: "Wayne Phillipson is a predatory individual who used social media to target this young child in a planned course of action."  

"This type of offending has no place in Scotland, and victims can be assured that we are committed to the effective prosecution of such crimes."

(With inputs from agencies)