UK- An award-winning comedy actor looked at child porn because it made him feel like a “better man”, a court has heard.
Chris Langham allegedly made the claim in a tearful phone call to a girl he is accused of sexually abusing.
The 58-year-old Thick Of It star denies charges of indecent assault, serious sexual assault and making indecent photographs of a child.
He is accused of having underage sex with a girl – now aged 25 – who revealed details of the phone call in court.
She said Langham, of Golford, near Cranbrook, Kent, called her after his arrest on suspicion of downloading child porn in November 2005.
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“He said he was basically not looking at the children but at the people who were hurting them, he was looking into their eyes because it made him feel like a better man,” she told Maidstone Crown Court.
“He said it was girls and boys. He was very distraught as well while he was talking to me about that. He was crying, he was suicidal, he claimed.”
She added: “He said that what happened between us wasn’t because of my age, it was because he cared about me, he felt sorry for me and he just wanted to show me love.”