A paedophile who paid children in the Philippines to perform sex acts over the internet has been jailed for six years.

Simeon Osen, 53, from Chigwell, admitted 13 of 20 charges against him of procuring children for sex abroad during the same period on October 10.

He was sentenced to a total of five years and 11 months at Harrow Crown Court yesterday.

Osen is the former chief executive of Ronacrete, a concrete products company responsible for the top of the Shard.

He has been ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life and has been given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order. 

The Met's Child Abuse, Exploitation and Sexual Abuse Command, began investigating Osen in 2013, following an allegation that he abused a 13-year old girl.

During the course of the investigation, Osen's personal computers were examined and a quantity of images and movies of an indecent nature were found, including extreme pornography. 

A further computer seized from his work premises in Harlow revealed over 41,000 messages via online video chat with persons in Manila, Philippines, during which Osen is directing the abuse of children as young as ten.

In addition to this, his computer contained screen shots of young girls with lines of video chat, between Paul Simon, the online name used by Osen and persons in the Philippines.

Between February and December 2012 Osen made 69 payments at a cost of nearly £6,000 to six people in the Philippines believed to be involved in child sexual exploitation.

He was charged on 20 different counts including arranging the commission of a child sex offence and making indecent photographs of a child. 

Osen had been previously sentenced to an eight month suspended sentence last year after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual activity with a girl aged between 13 and 17.

Th sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal following a complaint it was too lenient, but Attorney General Dominic Grieve refused to intevene, saying proper guidelines were followed.

Detective Constable Rachel Snow, of Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: "On the surface Simeon Osen was a successful business man with a family, but in reality he was a paedophile who was abusing children. 

“I hope his arrest, prosecution and imprisonment today serves as a warning to other sex offenders in the UK, who think they can get away with abusing children anywhere in the world.

"This investigation is a very good example of the lengths the police and other law enforcement agencies will go to in order to find and secure the evidence to convict you.

“I also hope this case gives victims of sexual abuse, who may not have previously reported their ordeal to the police, the confidence to come forward.”