Operation Cathedral

The Wonderland Club, (also officially known as w0nderland) named after Alice in Wonderland,{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/wonderland-club-with-a-sick-agenda-1.167573|title=Wonderland club with a sick agenda|work=Herald Scotland|date=16 November 2001 |accessdate=8 October 2014}} was described as "an international network of paedophiles involving the rape of boys and girls live on camera and the traffic in images of the torture of children as young as two months". It was created in 1995{{Cite web |date=2001-02-11 |title=Members of international paedophile ring to be sentenced |url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/feb/11/tracymcveigh.martinbright |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} by two American paedophiles,{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1322551/Girl-8-raped-to-order-on-the-internet.html|title=Girl, 8, raped to order on the internet|author=Sean O'Neill|date=14 February 2001|work=Telegraph.co.uk|accessdate=8 October 2014}} including one named Peter Giordano{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/net-paedophiles-and-the-malice-of-wonderland-26247206.html|title=Net paedophiles and the malice of Wonderland|work=Independent.ie|date=18 February 2001 |accessdate=8 October 2014}} and consisted in an Internet Relay Chat{{Cite web |title=Massive online child porn ring broken up |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/massive-online-child-porn-ring-broken-up/ |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=ZDNET |language=en}} with an encryption system created initially by the former KGB.{{Cite news |date=1998-09-03 |title=Operation Cathedral |pages=4 |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9396823/operation-cathedral/ |access-date=2022-10-29}} The investigation had been sparked by a tip-off from US police investigating the 1996 rape of an 8-year-old girl broadcast live to paedophiles by webcam. The accused, Ronald Riva of Greenfield, California, was in a paedophile gang called The Orchid Club{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/UK/02/13/paedophile.police/index.html?related|title=CNN.com - How police smashed child porn club - February 13, 2001|publisher=|accessdate=8 October 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Cops-Go-Undercover-Online-to-Nab-Internet-2974669.php|title=Cops Go Undercover Online to Nab Internet Pedophiles|date=7 December 1998|work=SFGate|accessdate=8 October 2014}} and was encouraged during the assault by six others, including Ian Baldock, a member of Wonderland.

One reason for the high profile of the operation was the unusually high number of images possessed, produced, and distributed by Wonderland members (more than 750,000 images and 1,800 videos). One requirement for entry to the club, apart from a recommendation from an existing member, was the expectation to supply 10,000 new or self-produced pornographic images of children.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/feb/11/tracymcveigh.martinbright|title=Members of international paedophile ring to be sentenced|last1=Bright|first1=Martin|date=2001-02-11|work=The Observer|access-date=2019-06-23|last2=McVeigh|first2=Tracy|language=en-GB|issn=0029-7712}} Despite substantial police work, only 17 of the 1,263 individuals appearing in the images have been identified: one from Argentina, one from Chile, one from Portugal, six from the United Kingdom, and seven from the United States. The Portuguese national was later identified as Rui Pedro Teixeira Mendonça, an 11-year-old boy kidnapped in Lousada on 4 March 1998 and whose whereabouts are currently unknown.{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1336247/Internet-child-sex-perverts-escape-justice.html|title=Internet child sex perverts escape justice|last=O'Neill|first=Sean|date=3 August 2011|website=Telegraph|access-date=20 March 2019}}

Six members of the club committed suicide after the raids. Other raids related to the Cathedral operation include 1999's Operation Queensland, involving 20 police forces, and 2001's Operation Janitress, which included police forces across 12 regions.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1166135.stm|title=BBC News - UK - Tackling online child pornography|date=13 February 2001 |publisher=|accessdate=8 October 2014}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/networking/massive-paedophile-operation-leads-to-arrests/|title=Massive paedophile operation leads to arrests|last=Wearden|first=Graeme|website=ZDNet|language=en|access-date=2019-06-23}}

The following is a list of British citizens arrested as a result of Operation Cathedral, and their ages when convicted:{{Cite web|url=https://theukdatabase.com/2012/03/14/2723/|title='Wonderland' – Paedophile ring|date=2012-03-14|website=The UK & Ireland Database|language=en|access-date=2019-03-20}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/wonderland-paedophiles-are-sentenced/|title=Wonderland paedophiles are sentenced|last=McAuliffe|first=Wendy|website=ZDNet|language=en|access-date=2019-03-20}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1165372.stm|title=BBC News - UK - Net porn trader denies abuse|date=11 February 2001 |publisher=|accessdate=8 October 2014}}{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1167879.stm|title=Wickedness of Wonderland|date=2001-02-13|access-date=2019-06-23|language=en-GB}}

• Ahmed Ali, 31, taxi driver, nicknamed "Caesar". Jailed for two years.
• Ian Baldock, 31, computer consultant. Jailed for two-and-a-half years.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1169457.stm|title=Wonderland sentences a 'joke'|date=14 February 2001|publisher=|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}
• Andrew Barlow, 25, computer consultant, nicknamed "Mix". Jailed for two years.
• Stephen Ellis, 40, computer salesman. Heavily encrypted his computer files. Committed suicide in January 1999 prior to the trial.
• David Hines, 30, unemployed, nicknamed "Mutt's Nutts", who later discussed the club publicly on Panorama. Jailed for two-and-a-half years.
• Gary Salt, taxi driver, former engineer, nicknamed "Jazz" and "chairman" of the club. Assisted the Cathedral sting by providing his login details. In 1998, he was sentenced to 12 years for sex offences. Released from prison in 2010 (having changed his name to Anthony Andrews) he was re-arrested months later when caught viewing indecent images on a computer in Old Trafford Library.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-13418051|title=Abuser viewed images in library|date=2011-05-16|access-date=2019-03-20|language=en-GB}}{{cite web|url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/pervert-who-ran-infamous-wonderland-857088|title=Pervert who ran infamous 'wonderland' child porn network caught looking at sick images in Old Trafford library|author=Neal Keeling|work=men|date=25 March 2011 |accessdate=8 October 2014}}
• Gavin Seagers, 29, computer consultant and Sea Cadets youth leader. Jailed for two years. Arrested and sentenced again in 2011 for a similar offence as Gavin Smith.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-19627049|title=Child sex chatroom man sentenced|date=2012-09-17|access-date=2019-07-15|language=en-GB}}
• Antoni Skinner, 36, computer consultant, nicknamed "Uhura" and "Satan". Jailed for 18 months.
• Frederick Stephens, 46, taxi driver, nicknamed "Guess Who" and "Me Again". Jailed for a year.

On 13 February 2001, seven British members of Wonderland were sentenced at the same court hearing at Kingston upon Thames Crown Court.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/pm/1168515.stm|title=BBC News - PM - Child pornographers sentenced|date=13 February 2001 |publisher=|accessdate=8 October 2014}} At this time, however, the maximum sentence for the particular crimes in the UK was three years, leading to the UK-based perpetrators only being sentenced between 12 and 30 months for their crimes.{{Cite web|url=https://casefilepodcast.com/case-115-operation-cathedral/|title=Case 115: Operation Cathedral|date=2019-06-22|website=Casefile: True Crime Podcast|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-23}}{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/UK/02/13/england.pornography/index.html|title=CNN.com - Child porn gang face jail - February 13, 2001|publisher=|accessdate=8 October 2014}} Protests by child care campaigners led to proposed legal revisions of British laws{{Cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/UK/02/13/england.pornography.02/index.html|title=CNN.com - Internet child porn gang jailed - February 13, 2001|website=CNN|access-date=2019-06-23}} and an increase in penalties to 10 years as per the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040819105555/http://www.pressherald.mainetoday.com/specialrpts/danger/club.htm International team of police raids 'club']
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060602133856/http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,989082,00.html Main Street Monsters]
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1763797.stm Renewed hunt for Wonderland victims]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050124031648/http://mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=Newscenter.ViewPressRelease&Content_id=863 US Senator McCain uses Wonderland to argue for an internet filtering amendment ]

Category:Cybercrime in the United Kingdom

Category:Law enforcement operations against child pornography

Category:1998 crimes in the United Kingdom

Category:September 1998 crimes in the United States