A Colchester paedophile who sexually abused young boys after a cycling tour in Myanmar has been jailed for six years.

Christopher Behn, of Mersea Road, flew to the south-east Asian country for a guided cycling trip in November 2016 and, once this had finished, travelled to the Ngapali Beach area.

During his four-night stay in the resort, the 66-year-old sought out vulnerable local boys with the intention to sexually abuse them before he returned to the UK.

Behn, a retired engineer, took posed naked photographs of 11 unidentified Burmese boys under the age of 13.

He also sexually assaulted one of the boys and recorded the assault in a series of images.

Behn was a subject of interest in a wider National Crime Agency investigation when he was arrested by officers at Gatwick Airport in February 2020.

His laptop and Garmin GPS device were both seized, which forensic analysts used to prove Behn was at the locations when the pictures of the boys were taken.

Officers found a total of 265 indecent images of the children on Behn’s laptop, which he had taken himself.

In some, he had instructed the boys to pose naked or partially clothed. In others, it was clear they were unaware that the photo was being taken.

Behn was charged with eight counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, one of sexually assaulting a child under 13, and two counts of taking indecent images of children.

He pleaded guilty to all the charges last month and was sentenced to six years in prison, with a further six on extended licence, at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday.

Behn will also be subject to a sexual harm prevention order.

Giorgina Venturella, CPS Organised Crime Division specialist prosecutor, said: "The crimes that Christopher Behn committed against under-age boys in Myanmar were depraved.

"Behn used his position of power to purposefully seek out vulnerable young local boys with the intention of sexually abusing and exploiting them.

"These children were deliberately posed and photographed by Behn, and Behn’s behaviour clearly escalated in severity over the course of his stay.

"Behn’s abuse and exploitation will affect his victims for their whole lives."