Nathan Bake: Mechanic, 28, from Cheshire was 'second in command' at worldwide child sexual abuse site
Bake, from Runcorn, Cheshire, who was second in command of The Annex, was convicted under organised crime laws in the first case of its kind.
A mechanic who helped run one of the dark web's biggest child sexual abuse sites has been jailed for 16 years after he was convicted under organised crime laws in the first case of its kind.
Nathan Bake, a 28-year-old tyre fitter from Runcorn, Cheshire, was the head moderator and second in command of The Annex - which had 90,000 users worldwide.
The site, where paedophiles shared millions of images - including the most extreme kind of abuse material involving toddlers and babies - has been shut down after a global operation involving the National Crime Agency and the FBI.
The man who ran the operation has been sentenced to life in prison in the US, while 14 other Americans have been charged over their roles, with eight receiving sentences of between six and 28 years.
Three British moderators have also been charged including former junior doctor Kabir Garg, 34, who worked as a psychiatrist for the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. He was jailed for six years last June, while another man faces sentencing on Monday.
Bake, whose username was "Pink", was caught with a 576-page "paedophile manual" and more than 60 digital devices containing more than 800,000 images and videos of child sexual abuse when he was arrested in November 2022.
He was jailed for 16 years today after he pleaded guilty to 12 charges, including child sexual offences and participating in activities of an organised crime group.
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The IWF said it investigated a record 392,660 reports of suspected child abuse imagery last year - 5% more than in 2022.
Around one in five (54,250) of the websites found to contain child abuse included the most severe form, known as Category A.
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Judge Patrick Thompson said he considered Bake to be a dangerous offender and ordered an extended licence period of four years.
It is the first time the NCA has secured a conviction under the law, which investigators hoped would give the judge more scope to impose a bigger sentence.
There is currently no legislation that specifically deals with the moderation or administration of child sex abuse websites and the agency is in talks with the Home Office to toughen up the laws.
There are about 1.4 million users of the Tor browser, which can be easily downloaded and used to access the dark web, with around 40% of searches relating to child sexual abuse, according to investigators.
The 30 people responsible for running The Annex put as much time into their work as any other job and would hold staff meetings and suggest people for promotions, said NCA branch commander Adam Priestley.
Users would have to prove themselves in "the gateway" by sharing child sexual abuse material before being allowed into other areas.
"There was nothing on this site that was off limits - everything was encouraged, everything was allowed for," he said.
"The men were very much part of a team of staff - that you would expect to see within any other business - that provided a platform to facilitate a community of paedophiles to encourage the abuse of children all over the world."
-sky news
