A paedophile who targeted a vulnerable new mother on Tinder in order to sexually abuse her 10-week-old baby has been jailed for life by a UK court.
Christopher Phillips, 34, was described in court as being “actively looking for a baby” when he joined the dating app. Swansea Crown Court heard that he preyed on the woman after seeing a photograph of her holding her infant child.
Prosecutor Caroline Rees KC told the court that Phillips “pestered and pestered” the woman to leave the baby alone with him and “demanded” that he be allowed to change the child unsupervised.
The infant was rushed to hospital in January 2021 with injuries doctors likened to being “hit by a bus”.
Medical examinations revealed severe injuries to the baby’s anus and genitals, multiple fractures and a bleed on the brain. The boy was found to have a fractured ankle and wrist, six fractured ribs and a fractured skull.
Sentencing Phillips, Judge Paul Thomas KC said the injuries had been inflicted on an “utterly defenceless baby” so the defendant could “satisfy your grotesque sexual perversion”.
He added: “In my over forty years of experience, this has been the most distressing case I have ever had to deal with.
This has truly shaken me to my core.”
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Phillips was found guilty of two offences of sexual assault by penetration against the infant, one count of actual bodily harm and two offences of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He was cleared of two further counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and two alternative charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm.
The baby’s mother was found not guilty of both allowing her child to suffer serious physical harm and child neglect.
Phillips was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years and was warned that he may never be released.
In a statement following the verdict, the child’s grandmother said the case had “brought absolute horror and devastation to the family.”