A pervert who committed sex acts outside care homes in East Lancashire while wearing women’s underwear and a clown mask has been jailed.

Shocked witnesses described how Paul Whittaker entered the grounds of various care homes in the area wearing women’s underwear, including a bra, knickers, suspenders and stockings, and exposed himself to staff.

He also wore a mask and a basque and put underwear over his face in an attempt to hide his identity.

At a sentencing hearing in Burnley Crown Court, Whittaker, who appeared via video link from Preston Crown Court and was representing himself, still maintained his innocence, telling the court, “I was framed and set up for this, there’s no indication of why I was arrested”.

Judge Sara Dodd also told the court that Whittaker, “maintains that he hasn’t done these things and thinks that the trial process was corrupt”.

The first offence took place in Burnley at 4.30am and 5am on August 17 2021, when Whittaker was seen in the grounds of a care home wearing a white clown mask, white basque, pink bloomer style knickers, with stockings and suspenders.

The second offence took place in Brierfield at 11.15pm on New Year’s Eve 2021 when Whittaker exposed himself while wearing knickers on his head.

The third offence took place in Burnley between 7am and 7.15am on January 27 2022 when Whittaker was seen exposing himself while wearing a mask and Spiderman-like jogging bottoms.

The fourth offence took place in Burnley at 6am on February 2 2022 when Whittaker was seen exposing himself while wearing a ‘white bandage’ Halloween-style mask with blood dripping from it, a blue long sleeved top and a white bra.

The fifth offence took place in Burnley at 4am on April 24 2022 when Whittaker was caught on CCTV exposing himself while wearing similar clothing to when he committed the same offence in Brierfield.

The final offence took place in Burnley at 2.50am on May 10 when Whittaker was recorded on a mobile phone exposing himself while wearing a head covering, suspected to be light-coloured underwear, a light-coloured bra on his chest, with a blue coloured nurse/medical top which was open at the front, ripped suspenders, and pink knickers.

Enquiries relating to a Peugeot 206 captured on CCTV around some of the times and locations the offences took place led officers to the home address of the 54-year-old.

Inside his then home in Berrington Way, Oakworth, Keighley, officers found numerous items, including women’s underwear in the defendant’s bedroom and clothing matching that worn during the commission of the offences.

Following a trial at Burnley Crown Court, Whittaker, now of no fixed address, was found guilty of six counts of indecent exposure.

He was remanded into custody and has been in HMP Preston since last May.

The court heard how the 54-year-old had been diagnosed with autism some five or so years ago but also has previous convictions of a similar nature in respect of indecent exposure as well as stealing knickers from washing lines in 2008.

In his defence, Whittaker claims he was not responsible for the acts and has now turned to Buddhism, spending a lot of his time in prison reading books on dharma teachings and meditating.

He also asked for an unusually long sentence of six years, saying he wished to complete a degree while in prison and a longer sentence would give him this opportunity.

He is still visited by family and friends and is considering moving to Cumbria upon his release.

Judge Sara Dodd said: “This is offending against women working in care homes, working at night, sometimes alone.

“While many people convicted of sexual offences have previous convictions for exposure it doesn’t follow by any means that those who have previous exposure convictions go on to commit more serious contact offences.

“It’s difficult to determine how your autism impacts upon your behaviour but you continue to deny it.”

Whittaker was jailed for three years, made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order which bans him from entering the grounds of any care home and was made subject to notification requirements for life.

At the time of his conviction last year, DC Lee Walker, of Burnley CID, said: “Whittaker is a prolific offender who carried out his perverted offending over a prolonged period of time.

"A significant amount of police resources went into identifying and arresting Whittaker. Without that I am convinced that he would still be offending today.

“Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Whittaker refused to admit what he had done.

"I would like to thank the jury for their considered verdicts and my colleagues for their professionalism and dedication during this complex investigation.

“I know the public will be appalled by Whittaker’s abhorrent offending and pleased that this persistent offender is now behind bars.”

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.”