Serving soldier jailed for 27 years after paying a fellow paedo £50 to let him watch as he raped a three-year-old child

A DISGRACED soldier who arranged to watch a paedophile rape a young boy for £50 has been jailed for more than 27 years.

Christopher Thompson, 26, replied "Wow!" in an online chat after Aaron Hughes sent him sick videos of the sex attack.

Hughes, 32, from Cardiff, Wales, has been jailed for life for drugging and raping a three-year-old boy given to him by a babysitter.

"Prolific" Thompson, who was a serving soldier at the time, had also contacted children online for sex in 7,000 messages.

He targeted young boys using a online social network called Tagged which is based in San Francisco.

An employee from the company spotted his indecent exchanges and alerted US police.

The victim was traced to Greater Manchester in the UK and Thompson was identified as the offender.

The paedo later tried to jump in front of a train to avoid facing police but was pulled from the tracks by his father.

Thompson allegedly said: “I shouldn’t have done it. I’m sorry. I’d rather kill myself.”

The mother of one of his victims told Teesside Crown Court: “I find it difficult to believe an adult would stoop so low.”

Thompson admitted 12 charges of sexual activity with a child, sexual activity in the presence of a child, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to watch a sexual activity, attempting to arrange a child sex offence and making and distributing indecent photographs of children.

Brendan Carville, defending, said Thompson committed the crimes because of deep-rooted issues from his own childhood experience.

He said Thompson, who was originally from Darlington,  was an educated man of previous good character and had served his country with an “exemplary” Army record.

Judge Howard Crowson said the “chilling” communications leading to the filmed rape of a vulnerable child for money were the most serious in Thompson’s catalogue of crimes.

He told Thompson: “This offence was committed at your request, for your pleasure.”

Thompson was jailed for a total of 27 years and eight months plus an extended five-year licence period.

The Parole Board will consider whether it will be safe to release him during his sentence.

He was also given a sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offenders’ register - both for life.

Last October a decorated soldier was jailed for trying to meet a schoolgirl for sex.

Earlier that month another squaddie tried grooming a young boy for sex after meeting him on a gay dating site.