Man jailed for three years for exposing himself to staff at care homes in Burnley and Nelson

On six occasions Paul Whittaker attended five care homes whilst wearing female lingerie. He concealed his identity by covering his face with masks and caught the attention of staff at the homes before masturbating in front of them.

Evidence produced from automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras put his car in the vicinity of each care home at the time of the offences and on three occasions he was captured on CCTV heading to and from the locations.

Whittaker was arrested at his home on May 18th, 2022. Inside his bedroom was a vast amount of women’s lingerie. When his phone was analysed, they found videos of him performing the same sexual act whilst wearing outfits, similar to those described by witnesses. He gave a ‘no comment’ interview to the police.

Today he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, he was issued with an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and he must sign the sex offenders register for life.

Jim Mowbray Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West said: “Paul Whittaker demonstrated compulsive and predatory behaviour when he targeted care homes in order to perform sex acts for staff to see.

“After hearing the overwhelming evidence we presented to the court, including ANPR, CCTV and telephony evidence, the jury found him guilty and he has today been sentenced for all the offences he faced.

“All those he exposed himself to were understandably terrified by his actions, which has had a significant impact on their lives and their ability to carry out their important work. I hope that now he has been brought to justice for his actions, they can begin to move on with their lives.”

The care homes where Whittaker carried out the offences included Willowbank Nursing Home, Mount Care Home, Jalna Residential Home and Abiden Rest Home in Burnley and Brierfield House Care Home in Nelson.