A man from Peterborough who was a high-ranking moderator on a site on the dark web discussing child sexual abuse has been convicted.
Colin Thackeray, 62, used the dark web to give advice to others on how they could groom children with the intention of sexually abusing them.
The sites involved the sexual abuse of boys and linked to indecent imagery as well as discussions of child sexual abuse.
He also had more than 2,000 indecent images of children on his devices, with 350 in Category A (the most severe), 655 in Category B and 1,459 in Category C.
NCA officers arrested Thackeray in September 2019 and when they searched his address, found a laptop and a number of chat logs where Thackeray was exchanging indecent images, discussing how to groom and abuse children and role-playing sexual activity with children.
Thackeray had communicated directly with a user he believed to be a 10-year-old child, repeatedly requesting they sent sexualised images of themselves to him.
NCA investigators recovered files from Thackeray’s devices which indicated he had acted as a moderator on at least one child sexual abuse site and had created his own site focussed on images of children.
Thackeray was charged with making indecent images of children, possessing prohibited images, intentionally encouraging or assisting commission of an offence and attempting to cause or incite a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children and one count of possessing indecent images at Luton Crown Court in July 2022. He pleaded guilty to a count of intentionally assisting the distribution of indecent images of children in July 2024 and was further convicted by a jury yesterday (25 July) of two counts of intentionally encouraging the sexual assault of a child under 13 and one count of attempting to incite a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
He will be sentenced on 24 September at the same court.
Spencer Davies from the NCA said: “Colin Thackeray was extremely active on the dark web, encouraging others to commit offences against children whilst also sharing photos of the worst abuse possible.
“Thackeray was a high ranking and valued member in the chat rooms he used and had created an online persona in which he portrayed himself as a sea captain roaming the oceans with a crew of children that he would sexually abuse. Other users believed him entirely but in reality, Thackeray lived alone in squalor, spending 14 hours a day online in his horrific fantasy world.
“Protecting children is a top priority of the NCA and we will continue to pursue offenders like Thackery who puts them at risk.”
26 July 2024
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