colinnew
- Mark Page, 63, was charged arranging the commission of a child sex offence
- Former radio executive, of Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, has denied the allegations
- He allegedly arranged payment to have children meet him for sex in Philippines
- Court has heard that Page ‘asked a girl, 14, to carry out sex acts on a 12-year-old’
A former radio executive allegedly flew to the Philippines to have sex with a 13-year-old girl and sent graphic messages about sex acts he wanted performed, a court has heard.
Mark Page, 63, of Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, denies five counts of arranging the commission of a child sex offence.
Three of the offences were said to have occurred in 2016 on webcams, when he was in the UK and the children were in the Philippines, Teesside Crown Court was told.
The remaining two offences were said to have happened in person after Page, who was also a DJ, travelled to the Philippines.
On the second day of his trial on Tuesday, the court heard that Page visited the Philippines in October 2019.
It is alleged that Page was an active member on the dating site FilipinoCupid.com – where he is said to have shaved 9 years off his real age – claiming to be 52 back in 2019.
Prosecutor Jo Kidd told the jury he set up a Facebook profile in the name of ‘Thai G’ and used it to contact a 13-year-old girl whilst in the Philippines in March 2019, before promising her 1,000 pesos.
The prosecution claimed Page was trying to arrange to meet a girl in a shopping centre during his 2019 trip and is said to have messaged a girl ‘How old is she? She come alone’ before agreeing to send 1,000 pesos via Western Union.
Page was also accused of trying to meet a 13-year-old girl and a boy, whilst he was staying at the Prince Plaza II Condotel in the city of Makati.
The court heard that Page sent graphic messages about sex acts he wanted the school children to perform.
Several hours later, the prosecution said that after Page met a girl he texted ‘Thanks babe’ before transferring 2,000 pesos.
Other alleged chats involved a Filipino woman asking for money for ‘tuition fees’ and other users requesting ‘a load’ – which is said to mean sending credit for a mobile phone.
Page is alleged to have used his Skype account from his former Ingleby Barwick home to carry out explicit video calls with children online.
He is alleged to have asked a 14-year-old girl to carry out sex acts on a 12-year old, but the prosecution say the older girl refused.
In another chat, Page is accused of sending 1,500 Pesos to a girl after she allegedly performed sex acts over a webcam before messaging: ‘I hope to visit you late October babe, and will you bring her to babe?’
The court heard further evidence from PC Stephen Rookes, who told the court that Page had left his computer on and his cloud account signed in, when he and his colleagues raided his home in January last year.
Police investigator Paul Ripley also took to the witness stand and talked about the different personas Page is alleged to have used online, including ‘Pete124’ and ‘Pancho’ and ‘Garrison1287’.
Three of the offences were said to have occurred in 2016 on webcams, when he was in the UK and the children were in the Philippines, Teesside Crown Court (pictured) was told
But Page’s defence barrister Trevor Burke QC told the court that his client’s dating profile stated that he wanted to meet a single woman, who did not have children and was between the ages of 25 and 34.
Mr Burke said that users of the Filipino cupid site have to be over 18; as does anyone collecting money from a Western Union account.
Page sat at the back of the court listening to the evidence throughout the day and denied all allegations.
The court heard that he has been divorced since 2007 and has cared for his three children since then.
The trial, expected to continue till the end of the week, continues.
