Double life of child abuse 'librarian'

[sabadgeman]

Double life of child abuse 'librarian'

By Mark Simpson
BBC News North of England correspondent

A British man has been jailed for his role in an international paedophile ring. Outwardly respectable, Philip Thompson used his self-taught computer skills to gratify his habit.

He was uncovered by a UK police investigation that has, so far, led to 360 suspects worldwide. From his bedroom in a house in a quiet corner of the north-east of England, Philip Thompson spread pictures of child abuse around the world.

A self-taught computer expert, he used his technical skills to feed his depraved hobby. Thompson did not make any money out of it, he did it simply for self-gratification.

Computer skills

What struck detectives who interviewed him was how intelligent he was.

He could have had a successful career in computers but chose instead to use those skills in the sickening underworld of internet paedophilia. What his family did not realise was that he was secretly helping to run an international paedophile network from his bedroom

Global abuse network unearthed

The unemployed 27-year-old was part of a global operation, which stretched as far as Canada, America and Australia.

According to Det Chief Supt Mark Braithwaite of Cleveland Police, Thompson was a key figure. "He was a critical piece of this jigsaw network. He was the librarian/warehouseman for a myriad of images that were distributed to like-minded individuals."

Thompson led a double-life. Outwardly respectable and well dressed, he lived with his mother in Stockton-on-Tees. What his family did not realise was that he was secretly helping to run an international paedophile network from his bedroom. On a computer hard-drive in the room, detectives found nearly 250,000 images of children - one of the largest collections of child abuse pictures found in the UK.

When police raided the house, the computer was on.

They had to move fast. They knew that internet paedophiles are so good at covering their tracks, a few clicks of a mouse could destroy key evidence. Police wanted to ensure that by the time they got to Thompson, he had not been able to hide his stockpile of images.

Levels of abuse

Over the course of 10 police interviews, he later confessed to what he had been doing.

One police source suggested that he seemed almost relieved that his double-life was now over. But it was too late for his victims. And not only did Thompson spread indecent images of children, he was involved in making them too. One of the charges against him was causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

For a number of years, the young man from Stockton-on-Tees was a significant figure in the internet underworld.

The pictures he distributed were of the worst kind. Under sentencing advisory guidelines, child abuse images are classified from level one to five, depending on how explicit they are. Many of Thompson's images were at the highest end of the scale.

He was arrested in February, but the charges go back three years to 2005.

During that time he was part of an internet forum which posted images of children on the web. Although these pictures were offensive, they were not, strictly speaking, illegal.

Yet this was just a front.

The forum was acting as a covert gateway to more explicit images.

It was only when police began an undercover operation - presumably with officers posing as online paedophiles - that they discovered exactly what Thompson and others across the world were doing.

For a number of years, the young man from Stockton-on-Tees was a significant figure in the internet underworld.

The authorities are relieved that he is now behind bars.

What they don't know is how many other 'Philip Thompsons' have yet to be caught.

BBC NEWS | UK | Double life of child abuse 'librarian'

[daniels116]

that is sick and I am glad that they are putting him away for a very long time

[Woodmonkey]

He should get life for this because he'll just go back to it when he gets out.

[sabadgeman]

He has goy an indeterminate sentence which means that he can only be released once everyone the cops included are happy he does not pose a threat to children again

[Woodmonkey]

Hopefully, bleeding hearts don't make the final determination.

[redtanker]

wow,,,thats a lot of pictures. How does someone ever think they will get away with somethign like that, on that scale