Actor Chris Langham gets 10 months

Published on Friday 14 September 2007 18:48

ACTOR Chris Langham was jailed for ten months today for downloading child porn.

The 58-year-old Bafta award-winning star, who wept in court during his sentencing hearing at Maidstone Crown Court, downloaded images and videoclips with names such as “bondage 11-year-old”, “Philippine child prostitute” and “Lolita”.

Langham claimed he was researching a paedophile character for a television drama and said he was trying to make sense of the sexual abuse he suffered as a child, but a jury convicted him last month of 15 counts of making an indecent photograph of a child.

Langham will serve five months, less the 43 days he has already spent in custody.

Judge Philip Statman said one of the victims was aged around eight-years-old, while others were between 11– and 13-years-old: “Some of the children viewed are clearly prepubescent, others are fully developed, some of the children are clearly of Filipino extract.

“All have had inflicted upon them horrifying sexual abuse and, I want to make this absolutely clear to you, I must think first of those children. They are too young to consent.

“When one sees their faces, in my judgment, they are vacant and lacking in expression ... you never ever see the faces of the perpetrators.

“Your activity took place in the comfort of your own home, no doubt at the time feeling safe in the knowledge that you would never be caught.”

Police raided the 58-year-old star’s home in November 2005 as part of Operation Ore.

At around 11pm the day before, he had downloaded files with names such as “teenage girl raped on beach by five guys”, “bondage 11-year-old”, and “Philippine child prostitute”.

There were also videoclips entitled “Kiddy 11-year-old”, “13-year-old preteen underage” and “preteen sex education”.

Langham, who won a Bafta for his role in the BBC drama The Thick Of It, admitted looking at child porn but pleaded not guilty to the charges against him because, he said, he wanted to make a public declaration that he was not a paedophile.

His defence was that he was conducting research for the BBC television series Help.

Langham told Maidstone Crown Court he and a co-writer had created a paedophile character called Pedro whose catchphrase was “I’m only a minor offender”, and wanted to explore the way society viewed sex offenders through him. The episodes, however, were never made.

He also claimed he had stumbled across some files when surfing the internet looking for material by the American comedian Bill Hicks.

During his time in the witness box, Langham said he also looked at indecent images of children because it helped him to come to terms with his own sexual abuse.

He sobbed and sank to his knees when describing his ordeal as an eight-year-old.

“I’m one of the children in the photographs,” he said.

He also said the abused children were “the only brothers and sisters I have”.

But, after a three-week trial, the jury convicted him of 15 counts of making an indecent photograph of a child between September and November 2005.

Langham, of Golford, near Cranbrook, Kent, was also accused of having sex with an under-age girl in upmarket hotels, his West End dressing room, his car and his home.

Their relationship began when he gave the girl acting lessons in his room at the Palace Theatre while he was starring as Thenardier in Les Miserables in 1996, the court was told.

But the jury accepted his account that he only had sex with her when she was 18 and cleared him of six counts of indecent assault and two counts of buggery between January 1996 and April 2000.

Langham had denied all the charges.

Langham, who wore a grey suit, bright yellow shirt and green patterned tie, sat for most of the lengthy sentencing hearing with his head bowed.

At one point he broke down in tears.

When the judge handed him a jail term he stood, but did not appear to react.

As he left court he blew kisses at his three adult sons and his father who were in the public gallery.

Also there to support him was actor Dudley Sutton, who appeared in the TV drama Lovejoy and, more recently, The Football Factory.

Commenting on the sentencing Detective Chief Inspector Paul Fotheringham said: “There is no excuse for downloading and viewing images of child sex abuse.

“The video clips found on Christopher Langham’s computer were a high quality reproduction of real children in real abusive situations.

“Paedophiles viewing images creates a demand which encourages others to continue abusing and hurting children.

“It is important for everyone to realise that these images are real abusive situations involving children from across the world, including Kent.

“During the course of the trial, the jury had to view some images – that had to be selected carefully – but what they saw and heard in evidence is harrowing and disturbing enough for anyone.”

“Kent Police has worked closely with the Crown Prosecution Service and other law enforcement agencies throughout this case to secure a conviction.

“We will continue our work together with partner agencies to bring other sex offenders to justice.”

NSPCC head of policy and public affairs, Diana Sutton said: “There is no excuse for downloading images of children being raped.

“Chris Langham has committed a serious offence which contributed to the suffering and degradation of those children.

“We know speaking out can be the hardest thing for an abused child to do.

“Talking to someone can help stop the abuse, and the earlier that happens the better. In the last year, more than 9,000 distressed children and young people phoned ChildLine to talk about sexual abuse.

“The number of pictures on the internet showing children being sexually abused is growing at a phenomenal rate.

“Anyone viewing these images serves to fuel demand so more children get abused in the real world. It is an awful fact that it’s almost impossible to take these images out of circulation.

“Behind most images is an abused child and these children will suffer for many years knowing that other offenders will pore over images of their abuse.

“The NSPCC is urging Internet Service Providers to make sure all abusive images are effectively blocked and is monitoring progress on this issue.”