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| Dark web paedophile Matthew Falder jailed for 32 years | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Paedophile Matthew Falder has been sentenced to 32 years in jail after admitting 137 charges including rape and blackmail. | Paedophile Matthew Falder has been sentenced to 32 years in jail after admitting 137 charges including rape and blackmail. |
| Sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court, Judge Philip Parker QC said Falder's crimes began with voyeurism as a student, but escalated. | Sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court, Judge Philip Parker QC said Falder's crimes began with voyeurism as a student, but escalated. |
| He said the Cambridge graduate would spend a further six years on licence after his release from prison. | He said the Cambridge graduate would spend a further six years on licence after his release from prison. |
| Some of his victims, who were teenagers at the time, were visibly upset. | Some of his victims, who were teenagers at the time, were visibly upset. |
| The court heard Falder had no previous convictions and excelled at school, where he was described as "one of the finest students with an international impact". | The court heard Falder had no previous convictions and excelled at school, where he was described as "one of the finest students with an international impact". |
| However, his offending lasted nearly 10 years and became "increasingly menacing", Judge Parker said. | However, his offending lasted nearly 10 years and became "increasingly menacing", Judge Parker said. |
| He said Falder had a "lust to control other people", becoming an "internet highwayman" by contacting people on Gumtree, pretending to be a woman. | |
| Once victims complied, the court heard, the blackmail began. | |
| Evaded capture | |
| Falder was eventually caught thanks to an international global taskforce, involving security services from Europe, the US, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. | |
| There were 24 victims, 18 of which were underage, three under the age of 15. | |
| Four of Falder's victims attempted suicide. | |
| He evaded capture by using heavily encrypted email addresses, which he obtained through Russian email services. | |
| Once he duped victims on Gumtree, he immediately moved them away from the website's servers and onto email. | |
| This meant he could maintain anonymity to his victims, demanding increasingly depraved images. | |
| He then posted the images on "hurtcore" websites, described as hidden forums on the dark web dedicated to sharing images and videos of rape, torture, paedophilia and degradation. |