A scientist and university academic described as a “warped and sadistic” paedophile has been jailed for 32 years after blackmailing a string of vulnerable victims, many teenagers, into carrying out depraved sexual and physical acts.

Matthew Falder, 29, a Cambridge graduate, admitted 137 offences against 46 victims, male and female, including blackmail, voyeurism, making indecent images of children and encouraging the rape of a child.



He was arrested following an international inquiry led by the National Crime Agency. At least three traumatised victims attempted to end their own lives after being tricked into sending him humiliating images of themselves.



Falder, a former post-doctoral researcher in geophysics at the University of Birmingham, committed the offences over eight years and never physically met his victims, instead blackmailing them over the internet. He duped many into sending naked images of themselves by posing as a female artist seeking photos to turn into life drawings.



In reality, he was a member of several “virtual communities” of abusers on the dark web, distributing images on so-called “hurtcore” websites, where images of violent sexual and physical abuse are shared, and where he had a membership level of “rapist”.



He forced one victim to film herself licking toilet seats, a used tampon and eating dog food; another into eating his faeces and drinking urine. He also encouraged the rape of a young child, the court had heard. He had set up hidden cameras in publicly accessible toilets and at his parents’ home, catching unsuspecting victims on film then blackmailing them and trading images online with others.



Using his ““evilmind” and “666devil” accounts on encrypted dark web forums, he coerced, controlled and ultimately devastated his victims.



Judge Philip Parker QC, sentencing at Birmingham crown court, described him as an “internet highwayman” who was “warped and sadistic” and whose behaviour was “cunning, persistent, manipulative and cruel”.



“No one who knew you above ground had an inkling of what you were doing below the surface,” he said.



Falder, brought up in Cheshire, had excelled at school and emerged from Cambridge University with a master’s degree and PhD before becoming a lecturer at Birmingham University. One former tutor described him as “one of the finest students” whose work had “international impact”. He had dynamic social magnetism, was extremely talented and was the life and soul of the party, the court had heard.

Matt Sutton, senior investigating officer at the National Crime Agency, said after sentencing: “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. Matthew Falder revelled in it.”



Falder’s is the first conviction of a “hurtcore” paedophile by British police. Described as the “worst of the worst”, hurtcore is a subculture of paedophilia, which, said the NCA investigator Matthew Long, aims to “hurt the individual to their very core”.



The NCA worked with UK police, GCHQ, US homeland security, the Australian federal police and Europol, and needed up to 100 investigators to find, track and detain Falder, who had evaded detection for almost four years.



Ruona Iguyovwe, of the Crown Prosecution Services, said Falder had shown no sympathy or basic humanity towards his victims. When one victim told him they were thinking of “ending it all”, he told them the images would still be circulated “so what good is that going to be to you”, she said.



One of his victims, duped by Falder after advertising herself as a babysitter on Gumtree, was bombarded with messages from him daily over two months. Speaking anonymously, she said she could not concentrate at school, was scared to go out and had been too ashamed to tell anyone. His actions had led to the total breakdown of relationships with her family and friends, and left her scared of meeting new people.







</s>A dark web paedophile who encouraged child rape online has been jailed for 32 years. Matthew Falder, who had a masters degree and PhD from Cambridge University, admitted to 137 charges, including blackmailing men, women and children in performing degrading and illegal acts, such as rape of a four-year-old boy.

Falder, who worked at Birmingham University in the UK, was arrested while at work on June 21, 2017, following a joint international investigation led by the UK’s National Crime Agency, Europol, the US Department for Homeland Security and the Australian Federal Police among others. He was given a 32-year prison sentence with an extended period of six years on licence at the Birmingham Crown Court. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register and was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The court earlier heard that he approached more than 300 people worldwide and victimised 45 people. He approached his victims on the online ad page Gumtree, masquerading as a depressed female artist and offering money for artistically posed photographs. He tricked his victims into sending him nude photos and then blackmailing them into sending him depraved images by threatening to send the original pictures to their family, friends, school or workmates.

Fader also traded the abuse pictures on “hurt core” forums on the dark Web. These depraved forums were dedicated to the discussion, image and video sharing of rape, murder, sadism, torture, paedophilia, blackmail, humiliation and degradation, reports the National Crime Agency.

In 2012, NCA and international law enforcement became aware of someone using the name “Inthegarden” to post blackmail images of a teenage girl on a site called Hurt 2 The Core (H2TC). The site was thought to be the world’s worst website at that time. The suspect remained hidden through the use of online anonymising techniques.

In 2015, the NCA also started investigating the username “666devil” with a picture of a young girl icon. He described in one post the plans he had to torture the girl, whom he claimed was his daughter. Officers identified and safeguarded the girl and determined that Falder, whose identity was still unknown at that time, did not have access to her. It was soon established that 666devil also used the username “evilmind.”

Falder was identified as the person behind the usernames in April 2017. He was arrested the following June while working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham.

“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. Matthew Falder revelled in it,” Matt Sutton, NCA senior investigating officer, said. “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. This investigation represents a watershed moment.

“Falder is not alone so we will continue to develop and deliver our capabilities nationally for the whole law enforcement system to stop offenders like him from wrecking innocent lives. I comment the victims for their bravery and I urge anyone who is being abused online to report it. There is help available.”

Judge Philip Parker QC described Falder as an “Internet highwayman.” He said the effects of Falder’s “ever-increasing depravity” have devastating effects on his victims.

In what is believed to be an unprecedented step, Cambridge University said it was stripping off Falder of his degree qualifications. A spokesman told the Telegraph that the sheer depravity of his crimes had “appalled and distressed” the Cambridge community. As no one in living memory has ever been stripped of their Cambridge degree, the spokesman said they were not even sure how to go about it.</s>A "sadistic" paedophile who used online blackmail to target a string of vulnerable victims, including a girl who was ordered to eat dog food, has been jailed for 32 years.

Former Birmingham University researcher Matthew Falder was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday after blackmailing victims into carrying out depraved sexual and physical acts.

The court was told The 29-year-old was one of Britain’s most prolific paedophiles.

Cambridge University graduate Dr Matthew Falder, who called himself ‘evilmind’ and ‘666devil’ during years of horrific online offending, closed his eyes as he was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court.

Judge Philip Parker QC, told him: "You may have been a star student and the life and soul of the party amongst friends. But you are a dangerous man.

"Your tale was one of ever increasing depravity. You showed persistent, manipulative and cruel behaviour.

"Three of your victims attempted suicide but you didn't care.

"The affects your behaviour had on your victims was devastating. Self harming, break up of family relationships.

"You had a warped mind and sadistic imagination."

Falder will serve 32 years in jail and six years on licence - He was also given a sexual harm prevention order.

Falder, of Harborne Park Road, Birmingham, admitted 137 offences relating to 46 complainants after being caught by an international inquiry led by the National Crime Agency.

Judge Philip Parker QC described Falder as an "internet highwayman" who had a lust for controlling and tormenting victims.

"It is a tale of ever-increasing depravity," he said.

"The effects on the girls, women and men were devastating.

"The damage is ongoing for these individuals.

"It will never end.

"Time and again people begged you to stop. Time and again you ramped up the pressure."



Falder was arrested in June last year after three traumatised victims, who were tricked into sending him humiliating images, attempted to end their own lives. 

 

 A previous hearing at Birmingham Crown Court was told Falder coerced male and female victims into producing "increasingly severe self-generated indecent images of themselves, the focus of these images being to humiliate and degrade". 

 

 Opening the facts of the case against Falder, prosecutor Ruona Iguyovwe told the earlier hearing many of the images were then distributed on so-called "hurtcore" websites showing material depicting sexual and physical abuse.

Matt Sutton, NCA senior investigating officer, said: “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. Matthew Falder revelled in it.

“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.

“Falder is not alone so we will continue to develop and deliver our capabilities nationally for the whole law enforcement system to stop offenders like him from wrecking innocent lives.

“I commend the victims for their bravery and I urge anyone who is being abused online to report it. There is help available.”

Ruona Iguyovwe, from the Crown Prosecution Service’s International Justice and Organised Crime Division, said: “Matthew Falder is a highly manipulative individual who clearly enjoyed humiliating his many victims and the impact of his offending has been significant.

“There was a high degree of sophistication and significant planning by Falder due to his encryption of software and technology in his electronic communication, and the use of multiple fake online identities and encrypted email addresses.

“The CPS worked with the National Crime Agency and international partners from an early stage in order to gather compelling evidence against Falder, resulting in his guilty pleas.”

If you have been pressured into sending sexual images or videos online and you have been threatened as a result, this is blackmail and you are not to blame. Remove yourself from the conversation, do not respond further and speak to an adult you trust.

You can also report to CEOP who can offer you advice and support - www.ceop.police.uk.

For further online safety advice visit www.thinkuknow.co.uk, and for confidential support call the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000.

Report to your local police force, who will deal with your report in confidence and will not judge you;

Don’t communicate – further with the offender, if you can take screenshots, suspend your account (but don’t delete it) and also make use of any online reporting options via the platform the communication took place.

If possible make a note of all the details provided by the offender and do not delete any correspondence.

If you are concerned about your safety online please visit www.getsafeonline.org or call the Samaritans on 116 123 for confidential support.

Child protection charity The Lucy Faithfull Foundation also runs the Stop It Now! helpline – 0808 1000 900 – which offers confidential advice to anyone concerned about their own or someone else’s behaviour towards children. www.lucyfaithfull.org.uk.

Papyrus provide confidential advice and support and works to prevent young suicide in the UK. Call 0800 068 4141.</s>One of Britain’s most prolific paedophiles - who blackmailed a string of vulnerable victims including a girl who was ordered to eat dog food - has been jailed.

Dr Matthew Falder has admitted 137 offences, including blackmail, voyeurism and encouraging the rape of a child, relating to 46 complainants after being caught following an international inquiry led by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The former King's pupil has been jailed for 32 years. Falder approached more than 300 people worldwide.

The 29-year-old, who set up hidden cameras at his parents’ home in Manchester , was arrested in June last year after three traumatised victims, who were tricked into sending him humiliating images, attempted to end their own lives.

Sentencing ‘warped and sadistic’ Falder for ‘a tale of ever increasing depravity’, Judge Philip Parker QC said: “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.”

Branding him an ‘internet highwayman’, he added: “You wanted to assume total control over your victims.

Former Birmingham University researcher Falder, originally from Knutsford, forced one victim to film herself licking toilet seats and eating dog food.

He set up secret cameras in bathrooms to record women and girls.

Falder also set up hidden cameras in publicly accessible toilets and at his parents’ home in Manchester, catching his unsuspecting victims on film, and using the footage to blackmail - and trade with others online.

Prosecutor Ruona Iguyovwe previously told the court that many of the images were then distributed on so-called ‘hurtcore’ websites on the dark web, showing material depicting sexual and physical abuse.

Falder was also a member of several ‘virtual communities’ of abusers.

One of his victims, speaking anonymously after his sentencing, described how their abuse had led to the breakdown of ‘all relationships’ in their life, and how they were now ‘scared to meet people’.

The operation to catch Falder, who used specialist software to hide his online accounts, was aided by The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the United States Homeland Security Department and law enforcement bodies in Israel, Slovenia, Australia and New Zealand.

Falder, of Harborne Park Road, Birmingham, committed the offences over an eight-year period.

He never met any of his victims, but instead manipulated them from afar by duping them into providing indecent images and personal details.

On his arrest, the former post-doctoral researcher in geophysics at the University of Birmingham asked officers: “What is it I’ve done?”

Then correcting himself, adding: “Supposed to have done.”

He then quipped that the list of suspected offences sounded ‘like the rap sheet from hell’.

Matt Sutton, NCA senior investigating officer, said: “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. Matthew Falder revelled in it.

“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.

“Falder is not alone so we will continue to develop and deliver our capabilities nationally for the whole law enforcement system to stop offenders like him from wrecking innocent lives.

“I commend the victims for their bravery and I urge anyone who is being abused online to report it. There is help available.”

Commenting after the sentencing, Dr Simon Hyde, headteacher at Kings, where Falder studied, said: “We are shocked and appalled to hear of this horrifying case. Our thoughts are with the victims and with their families.”</s>A gifted young academic who became a "warped and sadistic" paedophile has been jailed for 32 years.

Matthew Falder, 29, humiliated his victims and blackmailed them into performing ever-increasing acts of depravity on themselves and others, including the rape of a toddler.

The computer whizz-kid committed all his crimes online, hiding behind dozens of false identities on the dark web.

On some so-called "hurtcore" websites he was made a VIP member because of the ultra-depraved images he posted, granting him access to even more sickening material.

He targeted girls, women, boys and men, but never met his victims. Three of those he tricked into sending him humiliating images tried to kill themselves.

Birmingham Crown Court heard how one young girl was made to lick a toilet seat and eat dog food, and that a father was forced to rape and torture his two-year-old son - in what Judge Philip Parker QC described as "a tale of ever-increasing depravity".

He told "warped and sadistic" Falder: "You wanted to assume total control over your victims. Your behaviour was cunning, persistent, manipulative and cruel. The damage you did is ongoing and will never end.

"Victims know those images still exist on the computers of unknown people."

It took the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) four years to identify Falder, track him down and arrest him, following a global investigation.

When they did, he was not what they were expecting.

They discovered he was a research physicist, public school-educated, and a star student from Cambridge University, where he was known as a party animal with many friends.

Falder's double life began as a voyeur when he hid cameras in the bathrooms and toilets of his fellow students and friends.

Later, he targeted teenagers, offering babysitting and dog-walking services for pocket money on the marketplace website Gumtree.

Posing as a depressed female artist called Liz, he chose the most vulnerable, offering them money for topless pictures, then threatening them with exposure if they did not send more explicit and humiliating pictures.

One male victim was blackmailed into eating his faeces and drinking urine.

And in an email to one 15-year-old girl, he said: "I wanted to offer you two choices.

"A) You take some more photos for me..... slightly different from before.

"B) I get upset, and instead of sending money, I send printouts of all the pictures you have done to your address, at many points in the future (in envelopes that your mother is likely to open)."

The victim told Sky News: "I didn't tell anyone. I was really... I was ashamed. Obviously you've heard what the pictures were like. They were awful. And I didn't want any of my friends to know that I wanted to do that.

"It was all online, through the internet. I felt that 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.

"I don't talk to my family anymore at all because, for me, I felt that they wouldn't understand and didn't understand what had happened to me."

Prosecutor Ruona Iguyovwe told the court how Falder showed "no shred of sympathy" for his victims, even when they told him they were considering taking their own life.

Instead, his reaction would usually be to "reinforce his demands".

Falder - one of Britain's most prolific paedophiles - had 70 different online identities, including EvilMind and 666devil, and boasted to victims that he would never be caught.

The NCA led a task force including US and Australian police, and even consulted the UK's spy centre GCHQ to uncover his true identity.

When he was confronted with his crimes after being arrested last summer at Birmingham University, where he was working as a researcher after finishing a doctorate at Cambridge, he told investigators: "That sounds like the rap sheet from hell."

The NCA's Matt Sutton said the investigation represented a "watershed moment".

He said: "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. Matthew Falder revelled in it.

"His primary motivation was for power and control, suffering and humiliation. Believing he had superior intellectual and computational abilities, he was confident he could outwit law enforcement.

"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."

Falder admitted 137 crimes, including encouraging rape, sexually exploiting children, blackmail and voyeurism, which were committed over an eight-year period.

His lawyer said he acknowledged the impact of his crimes on his 46 victims and had pleaded guilty, so sparing them the ordeal of giving evidence in a trial.

His wealthy family, from Cheshire, and his long-term girlfriend are said to be standing by him and have vowed to help rehabilitate him on release from jail.

A spokesman for the university where he had excelled said his crimes had "appalled and distressed" the Cambridge community, while the NSPCC has branded him a "despicable predator".

Gumtree also welcomed the conviction of Falder for his "appalling offences".

A spokesman said: "Our dedicated safety team has been working with the NCA in its investigation of this case for several years. We take the safety of our users extremely seriously and are committed to making the site as safe as possible."

The judge told Falder he will have to serve two-thirds of the 32 years before he is eligible for parole in 2038.

Even then he will not be freed until the Parole Board decides he is no longer dangerous, and could have to serve the whole 32 years in prison.</s>A paedophile who blackmailed vulnerable victims including a girl who was ordered to eat dog food has been sentenced to 32 years in prison.

Matthew Falder, 29, admitted 137 offences including blackmail, voyeurism and encouraging the rape of a child, relating to 46 complainants, after being caught by an international inquiry led by the National Crime Agency.

The Cambridge graduate was arrested in June last year after three traumatised victims who were tricked into sending him humiliating images tried to kill themselves.

The judge, Philip Parker QC, describing Falder as “warped and sadistic” and sentencing him at Birmingham crown court for “a tale of ever increasing depravity”, said: “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.”

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

“The damage is ongoing [for the victims]. For these individuals, it will never end, knowing the abuse caused by you still exists in other unknown persons’ computers.”

Parker, who also described Falder as an “internet highwayman” and concluded that he was a dangerous offender, said: “These sentencing remarks underplay your relentless, obsessive desire to continue committing offences.” 



A previous hearing was told that Falder coerced male and female victims into producing “increasingly severe self-generated indecent images of themselves, the focus of these images being to humiliate and degrade”.

He also encouraged a father to rape his two-year-old son.

Falder forced one victim to film herself licking toilet seats and a used tampon, and eating dog food, and set up secret cameras in bathrooms to record women and girls naked. Another victim was blackmailed into eating his own faeces and drinking urine.

He also set up hidden cameras in public toilets and at his parents’ home and using the footage to blackmail his unsuspecting victims, and traded it with people online.

Ruona Iguyovwe, prosecuting, previously told the court that many of the images were distributed on “hurtcore” sites on the dark web that show material depicting sexual and physical abuse.

Falder, who treated victims as sexual objects and objects of derision, posted on one forum “100 things we want to see at least once”.

In remarks in that post, he suggested “a young girl being used as a dartboard”, production of a video depicting a child’s bones being “slowly and deliberately broken” and the abuse of “a paralysed child”.

It also previously emerged that Falder initially duped victims into providing images by posing as a female artist who wanted to turn them into life drawings.

Prosecutors said he was a member of several virtual communities of abusers and in one forum on the dark web, he had a “membership rank level of ‘rapist”’. 



One of his victims, speaking anonymously after Falder was sentenced on Monday, said his abuse had led to the breakdown of “all relationships” in her life and she was “scared to meet people”.

The operation to catch Falder, who used specialist software to hide his online accounts, was aided by GCHQ, the US Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement bodies in Israel, Slovenia, Australia and New Zealand.

Falder, from Birmingham, committed the offences over an eight-year period and never physically met any of his victims.

When he was arrested, the former postdoctoral researcher in geophysics at the University of Birmingham told officers that the list of his suspected offences sounded “like the rap sheet from hell”.</s>One of Britain's most prolific paedophiles, who blackmailed a string of vulnerable victims including a girl who was ordered to eat dog food, has been jailed for 32 years.

Dr Matthew Falder has admitted 137 offences, including blackmail, voyeurism and encouraging the rape of a child, relating to 46 complainants after being caught by an international inquiry led by the UK National Crime Agency.

The 29-year-old was arrested in June last year after three traumatised victims, who were tricked into sending him humiliating images, attempted to end their own lives.

Sentencing "warped and sadistic" Falder for "a tale of ever increasing depravity", Judge Philip Parker QC said: "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."

Branding him an "internet highwayman", he added: "You wanted to assume total control over your victims.

"Your behaviour was cunning, persistant, manipulative and cruel."

For the victims, he said: "The damage is on-going for these individuals it will never end, knowing the abuse caused by you still exists in other unknown persons' computers."

The judge, who also concluded Falder was a dangerous offender, added: "These sentencing remarks underplay your relentless, obsessive desire to continue committing offences."

A previous hearing was told Falder coerced male and female victims into producing "increasingly severe self-generated indecent images of themselves, the focus of these images being to humiliate and degrade".

Falder forced one victim to film herself licking toilet seats, a used tampon and eating dog food, and set up secret cameras in bathrooms to record women and girls naked.

Another was blackmailed into eating his faeces and drinking urine, while the 29-year-old also encouraged the rape of a boy, aged two, by his own father.

He also set up hidden cameras in publicly accessible toilets and at his parents' home, catching his unsuspecting victims on film, and using the footage to blackmail - and trade with others online.

Opening the facts of the case against Falder, prosecutor Ruona Iguyovwe previously told the court that many of the images were then distributed on so-called "hurtcore" websites on the dark web, showing material depicting sexual and physical abuse.

Falder, who treated victims both as sex objects and as objects of derision, posted on one forum "100 things we want to see at least once".

In remarks in that post, he suggested "a young girl being used as a dartboard", production of a video depicting a child's bones being "slowly and deliberately broken", and the abuse of "a paralysed child".

It also emerged during the earlier hearing that Falder initially duped victims into providing images by posing as a female artist who wanted to turn them into life drawings.

Prosecutors said Falder was also a member of several "virtual communities" of abusers, and in one such forum on the so-called dark web, he had a "membership rank level of 'Rapist'".

One of his victims, speaking anonymously after his sentencing, described how his abuse had led to the breakdown of "all relationships" in her life, and how she was now "scared to meet people".

The operation to catch Falder, who used specialist software to hide his online accounts, was aided by GCHQ, the United States Homeland Security Department and law enforcement bodies in Israel, Slovenia, Australia and New Zealand.

Falder, from Birmingham, committed the offences over an eight-year period and never physically met any of his victims, but instead manipulated them from afar by duping them into providing nude images and personal details.

On his arrest, the former post-doctoral researcher in geophysics at the University of Birmingham told officers "what is it I've done", before correcting himself and adding "supposed to have done".

He then quipped that the list of suspected offences sounded "like the rap sheet from hell".</s>A former Birmingham University academic has been jailed for 32 years after admitting more than 130 sex offences. Dr Matthew Falder duped victims into sending compromising images of themselves which he then blackmailed them with. He also encouraged a teenager to rape a four-year-old boy. It is believed Falder abused more than 40 victims over an eight year period. In October last year, he pleaded guilty to 137 offences, including:

He exploited vulnerable victims, including anorexic teenagers, and three of his victims even tried to take their own lives. One girl was 15 years old when she was abused by Falder. She describes the impact Falder's actions had on her:

Falder gained his victims’ trust by sending naked images of previous victims and pretending they were him. The former geophysicist researcher at Birmingham University then convinced young men, women and children to carry out degrading sex acts which he shared on the dark web and blackmailed them with. He used anonymous email accounts and online connection software to cover his tracks, and when some of his victims threatened to tell the police, he simply bragged that he couldn’t be caught.

The 29-year-old was only snared after an investigation led by the National Crime Agency. It also involved GCHQ, the FBI, and law enforcement in Israel, Slovenia, Australia and New Zealand. His case is the first successful prosecution relating to the so-called ‘hurt-core’ online underworld in the UK. In footage released from his arrest, Falder said:</s>One of Britain's most prolific paedophiles has been jailed for 32 years for blackmailing vulnerable victims into carrying out depraved sexual and physical acts.

Cambridge graduate Matthew Falder admitted 137 offences against 46 male and female victims after duping them into thinking he was a depressed female artist called Liz, seeking nude photos for his artwork.

The depraved paedophile ordered one girl to eat dog food after blackmailing her online.

The 29-year-old was sentenced today at Birmingham Crown Court.

Sentencing "warped and sadistic" Falder for "a tale of ever increasing depravity", Judge Philip Parker QC said: "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."

Branding him an "internet highwayman", he added: "You wanted to assume total control over your victims.

"Your behaviour was cunning, persistent, manipulative and cruel."

For the victims, he said: "The damage is on-going for these individuals. It will never end, knowing the abuse caused by you still exists in other unknown persons' computers."

The judge, who also concluded Falder was a dangerous offender, added: "These sentencing remarks underplay your relentless, obsessive desire to continue committing offences."

Falder, a former post-doctoral researcher in geophysics at the University of Birmingham, was caught by an international inquiry led by the National Crime Agency and arrested last June after after three traumatised victims, who were tricked into sending him humiliating images, attempted to end their own lives.

A previous hearing at Birmingham Crown Court was told Falder coerced male and female victims into producing "increasingly severe self-generated indecent images of themselves, the focus of these images being to humiliate and degrade".

Opening the facts of the case against Falder, prosecutor Ruona Iguyovwe told the earlier hearing many of the images were then distributed on so-called "hurtcore" websites showing material depicting sexual and physical abuse.

Upon his arrest, Dr Matthew Falder himself described the catalogue of offences he faced as the "rap sheet from hell". The case is thought to be among those with the highest number of charges brought against a single defendant, with Falder admitting 137 offences and a further 51 lying on file under a plea agreement. These are some of the charges he pleaded guilty to: Arranging or facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child x one Causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity x three Causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child x 20 Distribute indecent images of a child, conspiracy to x two :: Distributing indecent images of children x 12 Encouraging or assisting the commission of offences of taking, making or distributing indecent images x six Intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence of rape x three Intentionally encouraging or assisting of offence of sexual activity with a child family member x one Participating in the activities of an organised crime group x three Possession of indecent images of children x one

Falder, who treated victims both as sex objects and as objects of derision, posted on one forum "100 things we want to see at least once".

In remarks in that post, he suggested "a young girl being used as a dartboard", production of a video depicting a child's bones being "slowly and deliberately broken", and the abuse of "a paralysed child".

It also emerged during the earlier hearing Falder initially duped victims into providing images by posing as a female artist who wanted to turn them into life drawings.

The operation to catch Falder, who used specialist software to hide his online accounts, was aided by GCHQ, the United States Homeland Security department and law enforcement bodies in Israel, Slovenia, Australia and New Zealand.

Falder, of Harborne Park Road, Birmingham, had been warned he could face a life sentence for the offences, committed over an eight-year period.</s>This is the moment one of Britain's worst-ever paedophiles gets the knock on the door he had been dreading.

Cambridge University graduate Matthew Falder, 29, prowled the internet anonymously, blackmailing scores of children and adults into committing obscene acts on camera.

He then shared the footage, which included incestual child rape, on dark web "hurtcore" sites, dedicated to paedophile, rape and humiliation videos.

"What have I done... What am I supposed to have done?" he says revealingly, as police swooped on his bedroom in Birmingham – the nerve centre of his depraved operation.

He has been jailed for 32 years at Birmingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to 137 charges. Another 51 charges remain on file.

The 29-year-old geophysicist posed as a struggling female artist on Gumtree, asking teenagers and adults to send him naked pictures of themselves for money.

Once he had obtained these photos, he threatened to send them to his victims' loved ones, workplaces and schools, blackmailing them into performing ever more obscene acts.

A few of his victims were brave enough to approach the police prompting an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

But computer whizz Falder had carefully hidden behind around 70 almost impenetrable online identities. His user names on illicit dark websites included "evilmind" and "666devil".

He made teenage girls eat dog food naked, lick toilet seats and write 'I am a sl*t' in lipstick on their bodies. But perhaps his most sinister act was blackmailing a father into raping his two-year-old son.

"It is a tale of ever-increasing depravity," said Judge Philip Parker at sentencing. "The effects on the girls, women and men were devastating.

"The damage is ongoing for these individuals. It will never end. Time and again people begged you to stop. Time and again you ramped up the pressure," he added.

In an email to a 15-year-old girl, Falder wrote: "I wanted to offer you two choices.

"A) You take some more photos for me... slightly different from before.

"B) I get upset, and instead of sending money, I send printouts of all the pictures you have done to your address, at many points in the future (in envelopes that your mother is likely to open)."

Falder boasted that he would never be caught and believed he was always one step ahead of law enforcement. However, after a long and arduous investigation, NCA experts were able to crack his identity.

The agency released footage of the moment officers swooped on his sadistic lair after he was sentenced on 19 February.

Matt Sutton, NCA senior investigating officer, said: "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. Matthew Falder revelled in it.

"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.

"This investigation represents a watershed moment," Sutton continued. "Falder is not alone so we will continue to develop and deliver our capabilities nationally for the whole law enforcement system to stop offenders like him from wrecking innocent lives.

"I commend the victims for their bravery and I urge anyone who is being abused online to report it. There is help available."
A court sentences Matthew Falder, convicted on 137 charges, to 32 years in jail after confessing to blackmailing numerous teenagers into performing sexual acts.