Hornsey man in 'transnational child sexual abuse network' jailed

John Thorogood, 75, was part of a group which travelled to offend in ‘remote parts of the world’ to escape prosecution, reports Miriam Balanescu

A Hornsey resident has been jailed after it was found that he was part of a ‘transnational child sexual abuse network’.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) proved that John Thorogood, 75, travelled to remote parts of Asia and Africa over several years to abuse young boys – with the Hornsey resident appearing in a series of abuse images seized from another member of the network (a Dutch national convicted in the Netherlands).

Thorogood was arrested by the NCA in December 2021 after investigators were able to identify him in these recovered abuse images, which showed him sexually assaulting boys in Morocco in 2012. He was already a registered sex offender with convictions relating to indecent images of children (IIOC).

After officers forensically examined his phone and computer, they recovered over 200,000 IIOC. Some of the photos showed boys as young as one.

The same camera was used to take a picture of his suitcase with a luggage label for a flight from London to Morocco in July 2012, which led to his arrest.

On 31st August at Wood Green Crown Court, Thorogood 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 IIOC.

He was remanded in custody will be sentenced at the same court on 14th November.

A further four men in the UK have been identified in connection with the network and investigations are underway.

Phil Eccles, operations manager at the NCA, said: “The scale, collaboration and commitment of this transnational child sexual abuse network is unprecedented.

“Behn, Thorogood, and their like-minded associates conducted their offending in remote parts of the world, conspiring together via encrypted chats in the hope of hiding from law enforcement. They then catalogued and shared these images between them, further victimising these children.

“It is evident that significant planning went into every trip taken by the group for well over a decade, all of which centred around abusing vulnerable children.

“However, thanks to joint work with our partners across Europe, including Europol and police in The Netherlands, these men are now being exposed.

“Protecting children is a priority for the NCA and international borders are not a barrier. We are dedicated to targeting the highest harm offenders wherever they are in the world, and working with overseas partners to ensure Britons committing abuse abroad will face justice in the UK.”

We know times are hard

If you are struggling to make ends meet, we are keeping Haringey Community Press free because of you. We know that many people cannot afford to pay for local news, so this website and our print paper will always be free. If you can afford to, and value what we do, a small monthly or one-off contribution can support us to keep providing quality journalism for Haringey to our community for free.

Monthly direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month.