Matthew Falder: One of Britain's most prolific paedophiles jailed for 32 years after blackmailing children on dark web

Academic attempted to use encryption and dark web to evade international investigation

One of Britain’s most prolific paedophiles has been jailed after blackmailing dozens of young victims into performing depraved sexual acts online.

Dr Matthew Falder, a 29-year-old Cambridge graduate, was sentenced for 32 years in prison after admitting 137 offences against 46 victims.

Three of them attempted to kill themselves after being coerced into sending him explicit images, with Falder being arrested following an international intelligence operation involving security services in the UK, US, Israel and Australia.

Judge Philip Parker QC said his “warped and sadistic” behaviour told “a tale of ever increasing depravity”.

“As for your equally extraordinary sexual offending – no-one who knew you above ground had an inkling of what you were doing below the surface,” he told Falder.

“You wanted to assume total control over your victims. Your behaviour was cunning, persistent, manipulative and cruel.“

Judge Parker said the damage to victims would “never end” because of the knowledge that the images he obtained and distributed remain online.

“Time and again people begged you to stop,” he added. “Time and again you ramped up the pressure.”

Matthew Falder, an academic from Birmingham, was jailed for 32 years (NCA)

Birmingham Crown Court was told horrific details of Falder’s eight-year campaign of a “relentless, obsessive desire to continue committing offences”, which saw him encourage the rape of a four-year-old boy.

It heard that both male and female victims were convinced to send “increasingly severe self-generated indecent images of themselves, the focus of these images being to humiliate and degrade”.

Prosecutor Ruona Iguyovwe said many images were then distributed on so-called “hurtcore” websites showing material depicting sexual and physical abuse.

In a list of “100 things we want to see at least once”, Falder suggested “a young girl being used as a dartboard”, a video depicting a child’s bones being “slowly and deliberately broken” and the abuse of “a paralysed child”.

Falder boasted that he would never be caught and said he did not care if his victims lived or died, while targeting more than 300 people ranging from young teenagers to adults worldwide using a classified advert website.

He initially posed as a female artist who wanted to turn the images, including showing a vulnerable girl eating dog food, into life drawings.

One of Falder's victims told the court how she was left “scared of meeting new people” after being bombarded with controlling messages by Falder every day.

The woman – who was then a schoolgirl – believed her abuser would send images of her to friends and relatives unless she followed his instructions.

Matthew Falder, an academic from Birmingham, was jailed for 32 years (NCA)

She was approached by Falder after she posted an advertisement for work as a babysitter, with the abuser posing as a depressed female artist called “Liz”.

Falder convinced her to send nude images, claiming he would use them as “tasteful” illustrations, but was then blackmailed into taking demeaning photos of herself.

“Every day when I woke up, there would be a message,” the victim said. “When I came home from school, there would be a message.”

The woman initially felt too “ashamed” to tell anyone what was happening, with her school work suffering and relationships breaking down.

“I felt like no one would understand because there was no one there holding a knife to me saying ‘You will do this’, even though it felt like that,” she told the court.

“I hope one day I can rationalise the fact that not everyone wants to hurt me.”

Falder, of Harborne Park Road in Birmingham, was working as a lecturer and post-doctoral researcher in geophysics at the University of Birmingham when he was arrested.

The University of Cambridge, where a tutor described Falder as one of the finest students he’d ever supervised, said it was pursuing ways to strip him of his geophysics degree, Masters and PhD.

GCHQ, the US Homeland Security department and security services in Israel, Slovenia, Australia and New Zealand helped the operation to catch Falder, who used specialist software to hide his online accounts.

Under the usernames “evilmind” and “666devil”, he used anonymising web software and hidden dark-web forums dedicated to sharing images of rape, murder, sadism, torture, paedophilia, blackmail, humiliation and degradation.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) was alerted to a UK-based user “Inthegarden” on what investigators considered the “world’s worst website” in 2012, with a handful of victims reporting the abuse to local police forces.

The suspect could not be identified but in April 2015, the NCA began investigating a user called “666devil” who was using a picture of a young girl he claimed was his daughter as his avatar and requested ideas on how to torture her.

The user, later unmasked as Falder, was found to be the same user as “evilmind” and “Inthegarden” following an extensive intelligence operation.

All 300 people he approached were reviewed by NCA child protection advisors and investigations showed Falder had installed hidden cameras at a variety of locations to secretly film friends showering.

Falder was questioned over three days, but answered no comment to all allegations before providing two prepared statements.

He admitted charges including encouraging the rape of a child, fraud, causing sexual exploitation, blackmail, making indecent images, sending communications with intent to cause distress and possession of extreme pornography depicting torture, death and bestiality.

Matt Sutton, NCA senior investigating officer, said the investigation was a “watershed moment” for forces working to catch online paedophiles.

“In more than 30 years of law enforcement I’ve never come across an offender whose sole motivation was to inflict such profound anguish and pain – Falder revelled in it,” he added.

“I’ve also never known such an extremely complex investigation with an offender who was technologically savvy and able to stay hidden in the darkest recesses of the dark web.”

The computer in Falder’s Birmingham flat (NCA)

Prosecutor Ruona Iguyovwe, from the Crown Prosecution Service’s International Justice and Organised Crime Division, said Falder’s use of encryption, technology and multiple identities showed “a high degree of sophistication and planning”.

“Matthew Falder is a highly manipulative individual who clearly enjoyed humiliating his many victims and the impact of his offending has been significant,” she added.

Javed Khan, the chief executive of Barnardo’s, said Falder’s sentence “sends a message to paedophiles that they will pay for their crimes” and will hopefully give victims the confidence to seek justice.

The children’s charity is encouraging parents to monitor their children’s online activity and warn them of dangers, while calling on technology companies to sign an online code of practice.

Victoria Atkins, the minister for crime, safeguarding and vulnerability, said Falder’s “truly sickening” crimes were a reminder of the scale of online child sexual exploitation.

“I am humbled by the bravery of victims who came forward to tell their stories, and I applaud the collaborative work of the NCA and GCHQ in bringing him to justice,” she added.

“This Government will continue to support this outstanding work and the efforts of law enforcement to identify and protect victims and pursue these despicable predators.”

It has committed £20m over three years to support the identification of those using the internet to groom children.

A spokesperson for the NSPCC said Falder’s “despicable” abuse showed that behind every pornographic image including children “is a victim who has endured unimaginable pain and suffering”.

Anyone affected is urged to contact police, the NSPCC Helpline 0808 800 5000, or Childline on 0800 1111.

Additional reporting by PA