MATTHEW WHITEHOUSE FROM ERDINGTON SENTENCED FOR GROOMING AND INDECENT IMAGE OFFENCES

In May 2021, Matthew Whitehouse, a Tesco employee from Erdington, was convicted of serious offences related to child exploitation and possession of indecent images. The 30-year-old was described as 'dangerous' to children after attempting to groom a 14-year-old girl via the Kik messaging app.

Whitehouse asked the girl to send him naked photographs following the sending of a link supposedly to a 'game.' He was also found in possession of over 100 child abuse images, including moving pictures, some of which he shared on social media platforms. His most grave offence involved sending a category A image — the most severe classification — depicting a victim as young as five.

Despite expressing shame about his actions and concern over losing his 11-year-long supermarket job, Whitehouse was sentenced to 20 months in prison at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday, May 11. The probation service assessed him as posing a high risk of serious harm to children.

Judge Richard Bond stated, "I’ve got to protect the public from him. The probation service is effectively saying he’s dangerous."

The police conducted a warrant at Whitehouse’s home on Glendon Road on August 28, 2019, after intelligence linked a Kik account to the address and contained indecent images. Whitehouse was arrested; he denied having any sexual interest in children, claiming he believed he was chatting with adults. However, he admitted to some 'low level' distribution of images, according to prosecutor Richard McConaghy.

Officers seized an iPod Touch and a Samsung tablet, which together stored 33 category A images and videos, 34 in category B, and 41 in category C. Analysis of his Kik chat logs revealed he had shared six images. Whitehouse had also interacted with someone claiming to be 14 years old, though that individual could not be verified and may have been a setup by paedophile hunters.

During the online conversations, Whitehouse sent the girl a link to a questionnaire initially containing innocent questions. As the dialogue progressed, he sent a second, more explicit link. McConaghy explained, "As things progressed he sent a second link with more questions. Things became more sexualised. It was a mechanism to encourage this 14-year-old girl to enter into this game then up the ante asking her what sexual behaviour she had engaged in, who with, how many times, whether she would pose for photographs."

He further added, "As the conversation began to reach its peak he sent her some indecent images."

Whitehouse pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images, three charges of distributing them, and one count of attempting to communicate sexually with a child. In response, Judge Bond issued a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and ordered him to sign the sex offenders' register for the same duration.