John Thorogood, 75, was part of a ‘transnational network’ which abused children

A man has been sentenced to over seven years in prison for sexually abusing young boys in Morocco.

John Thorogood, 75, was part of a ‘transnational network’ which worked together to abuse children, travelling to ‘remote’ parts of the world to carry out sexual assaults.

On Thursday, 20th December, he was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison, having pleaded guilty to seven counts earlier (31st August) at Wood Green Crown Court: 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.

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.

National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators, together with Europol and Dutch authorities, identified Thorogood as a member of a sexual crime network, finding him to appear in a series of images recovered from another member of the group which showed Thorogood sexually assaulting boys aged 10-12 in Morocco in 2012.

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’.

Thorogood was arrested by NCA officers in December 2021.

Forensic work by NCA investigators led to the recovery of over 200,000 abuse images, including those which showed children aged only one.

Thorogood had used the same camera to take a picture of his suitcase, which had a luggage label showing flight details from London to Casablanca, Morocco, in July 2012 – leading to his identification.

Thorogood has previous convictions relating to indecent images of children.

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. 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.”

Another man, Christopher Behn, has been convicted, and four men have been arrested in connection with the group. Investigations are also ongoing in a number of countries across Europe.

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