A paedophile who deliberately sought out a vulnerable new mother on a dating app to sexually assault her infant son has been handed a life sentence. Christopher Phillips, 34, was described by a judge as having committed one of the most distressing cases he had ever encountered.
A Predatory Plan on a Dating App
Swansea Crown Court heard that Phillips was ‘actively looking for a baby’ when he joined Tinder. His predatory search ended when he matched with a new mother and saw a photograph of her holding her 10-week-old son. Prosecutor Caroline Rees KC told the court that Phillips then ‘pestered and pestered’ the woman to leave the child alone with him, demanding to be allowed to change the baby's nappy unsupervised.
Catalogue of Appalling Injuries
In January 2021, the infant was rushed to hospital with injuries so severe they were likened to being ‘hit by a bus’. The court was presented with a harrowing list of wounds inflicted by Phillips. The baby boy suffered severe injuries to his anus and genitals, multiple fractures, and a bleed on the brain.
Medical examinations revealed the full extent of the brutality:
- A fractured ankle and wrist
- Six fractured ribs
- A fractured skull
Judge’s Condemnation and Life Sentence
Sentencing Phillips, Judge Paul Thomas KC said the defendant had inflicted these injuries on an ‘utterly defenceless baby’ to satisfy his ‘grotesque sexual perversion’. The judge, with over forty years of experience, stated: ‘This has been the most distressing case I have ever had to deal with. This has truly shaken me to my core.’
Phillips was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault by penetration against the infant, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and two offences of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He was cleared of two further counts of causing GBH with intent and two alternative charges of inflicting GBH.
The baby's mother was found not guilty of charges of allowing her child to suffer serious physical harm and child neglect.
On January 17, 2026, Phillips was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years. The judge warned he may never be released. In a statement, the child's grandmother said the case had brought ‘absolute horror and devastation to the family’.
