A FORMER DJ and football club announcer has denied he was offering to pay for sex with an underage girl.
Mark Page dismissed claims that he had sent a number of sexually explicit messages in an attempt to arrange to have sex with a child during an upcoming trip the Philippines in October 2016.
Teesside Crown Court heard how a Skype account called PeteTV124, which was connected to Page’s radio network business, was used to attempt to arrange for a young girl to be raped.
Under cross examination by prosecution counsel, Jo Kidd, the defendant denied that he had sent a number of sexually explicit messages over an eight-day period and said he believed that his online accounts had been hacked.
- Read more: Ex-football club announcer accused of child sex offences tells jury his accounts were hacked
The barrister quizzed Page about the use of the Skype account in order to conduct conversations with females in the Philippines without having to disclose his real name.
In one of the video conversations with a person called ‘Gracie’ she had taken her clothes off within a couple of minutes, Ms Kidd said.
“From it and seeing the pictures – possibly,” he replied.
The barrister asked: “Was Gracie your girlfriend? Was she a random stranger who took her kit off on Skype?”
Page replied: “No. she was someone I met on a dating site and I was getting to know her.”
The defendant denied sending any money to the woman or that she took her clothes off for money.
Ms Kidd said: “You were in the habit of paying prostitutes to perform for you over the internet, weren’t you?”
Page replied: “No.”
Ms Kidd: “You contacted women in the Philippines and got them to perform sexual acts for you for money.”
Page replied: “No.”
Turning to conversations which were carried out using Page’s profile on an online dating site Filipino Cupid, Ms Kidd asked the defendant about the sexually explicit content of messages sent to ‘LovelyZamora7’ and the offer of financial reward of a mobile phone ‘load’.
She said: “Do you accept, on the face of it, that this is a prostitution activity?”
He replied: “A load is a mobile data top-up.”
Ms Kidd: “But do you accept that someone is getting their clothes off for a financial benefit?”
Page replied: “Not a direct financial benefit like it says here – it was a load of data.”
Ms Kidd: “Do you accept that this amounts to prostitution?”
Page said: “Possibly, quite possibly.”
Throughout the trial, Page said that his online accounts had been hacked and he was not responsible for the sexual messages or transferring money to young girls using Western Union.
Ms Kidd said: “Do you accept that once the money was sent, that Lovely Zamora carried out a sex act.”
Page replied: “It looks like it yes.”
Earlier, the jury heard how Page was in the Philippines in October 2016 and sent a number of text messages arranging to meet up with the young girl for sex.
In a series of explicit messages before his arrival and after he stayed at a hotel in the Makati area, Page is alleged to have asked the girl to arrange for him to have sex with a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy when he visited the Philippines in October 2016.
Ms Kidd said: “PeteTV goes on to fantasise about taking a 12-year-old’s virginity, doesn’t he?”
Page replied: “He doesn’t really allude to that. That line comes from LovelyZamora.”
Ms Kidd added: “PeteTV is making arrangements for when he is in the Philippines, in the October, to engage in the rape of a 12-year-old.”
Page replied: “Is that how you describe it?.”
The 63-year-old denies five charges of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence between August 2016, and April 2019.
Page, of Snowdrop Close, Stockton, will continue to be cross examined on Monday morning.
The trial continues.
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