A 76-year-old man from West Sussex has today pleaded guilty to 36 child abuse offences, including paying for children in the Philippines to be sexually abused to order.
Robert Pasteiner from Chichester, was identified by NCA investigators through suspicious payments totalling over £200,000 made to individuals in the Philippines, including arrested facilitators of live-streamed child sexual abuse (CSA).
He was arrested in February 2023 at Heathrow Airport, shortly before he was due to depart for the Philippines. Investigators interrogated his mobile phone and discovered he had arranged to meet a 12-year-old girl in his hotel.
His luggage was also searched and officers found presents including perfume and jewellery, as well as condoms and Viagra. A large quantity of Filipino Pesos and false documents were also concealed in his suitcase.
Further searches of his home address uncovered 15 electronic devices, six of which contained indecent images of children (IIOC). They also seized paperwork containing handwritten notes of who Pasteiner had been speaking to in the Philippines, including a number of child sexual abuse facilitators.
He had documented details about their family, phone numbers, emails, payment details, how much money he sent and when and what the payments were for; noting some as being for a ‘show’.
The NCA worked closely with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Philippine National Police (PNP) to identify and safeguard his victims and bring those who facilitated the abuse in the Philippines to justice.
In March 2026, Pasteiner was charged with 36 offences including causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child, attempted sexual communication with a child, arranging or facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child and making indecent images of children.
Today at Portsmouth Crown Court, Pasteiner pleaded guilty to 36 offences. He will be sentenced on 23 July at the same court.
22 May 2026
