‘unprecedented’ | 

London man (75) known as the ‘Trader’ in international child abuse network jailed

John Thorogood was sentenced to over seven years in prison for sexually abusing young boys in Morocco following a National Crime Agency investigation

Today at 12:48

A 75-year-old London man known as the ‘Trader’ by members of an international abuse network who travelled together to attack children across the globe has been jailed in the UK.

John Thorogood was sentenced to over seven years in prison for sexually abusing young boys in Morocco following a National Crime Agency investigation.

Working with Europol and Dutch authorities, investigators established that Thorogood appeared in a series of abuse images recovered from another member of the group, which showed him sexually assaulting boys aged 10-12 in Morocco in 2012.

Thorogood, who has previous convictions relating to indecent images of children, in December 2021, was arrested by NCA officers who seized his phone and computer.

Although the devises were encrypted, forensic work by NCA investigators led to the recovery of over 200,000 abuse images. Some of the photos were taken by Thorogood and showed boys as young as one-years-of-age.

Thorogood had taken a picture of his suitcase, which had a luggage label showing flight details from London to Casablanca, Morocco, in July 2012 with the same camera, led to his identification.

he pleaded guilty to seven counts, including sexual activity with a child, causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, and three counts of making indecent images of children on August 31 at Wood Green Crown Court,

He was remanded in custody and sentenced yesterday to seven years and eight months in prison.

He is also subject to a 15-year sexual harm prevention order, was placed on the sex offenders register for life, and will receive a five-year worldwide travel ban once released from prison.

The network communicated regularly via encrypted emails, a number of which were recovered as part of the investigation. These showed that Thorogood shared significant amounts of abuse material and was known to other members as ‘the Trader’.

Another member of the network, Christopher Behn, from Essex, is currently serving a 17-year prison sentence for sexually abusing boys in south east Asian countries on over 20 trips between 2008-2018 after he was convicted after an NCA investigation.

The agency has identified and arrested a further four men based in the UK believed to have links to the network while, investigations are also ongoing in a number of countries across Europe.

Phil Eccles, Operations Manager at the NCA, said Thorogood was a member of a transnational network who conspired together to abuse vulnerable children in remote, often impoverished parts of the world.

“The scale of this network is unprecedented,” Eccles said. “ A significant amount of planning went into every trip, each of which centred on abusing children. They then catalogued and shared the photographic evidence of their abuse between them, further victimising the children.

“Members communicated via encrypted emails in an attempt to avoid detection by law enforcement. However, thanks to joint working with our European partners and the diligence of NCA officers, these men are now being exposed and we will not stop until every member of this network is brought to justice.

“The NCA is dedicated to protecting children and disrupting the highest harm offenders wherever they are in the world. Collaboration with our international colleagues is imperative in achieving this.”