A 50-year-old man has been jailed for six years after a National Crime Agency investigation identified him as the‘Global Moderator’ of a dark website dedicated to the sharing of child sexual abuse material.
Swindon resident Brett Saunders, whose username was ‘Wetty’, held a key role in the running of the site which had over 2,000 members.
As Global Moderator he implemented the site’s rules and advised users on how to avoid detection by law enforcement.
NCA officers identified him as the person behind the Wetty username and he was arrested at his Swindon home in August 2022.
A number of his devices were seized from his address, including a laptop that was hidden under a cushion and a hard drive found concealed in an air vent. The abuse site was still open on his laptop and he was logged in with his username.
Saunders uploaded a total of 115 images and videos of abuse to the site, and a further 65,000 files relating to indecent images of children were recovered from his devices.
Additional data discovered on his account included over 3,000 posts made by him, and private messages he sent to other users which evidenced that his contribution was vital in the running of the site.
The messages also made it clear that he had quickly risen through the ranks due to his commitment and encouragement of others to discuss and distribute images and videos of child sexual abuse.
In interview, Saunders admitted to having a sexual interest in children, particularly girls aged 8-12, and confirmed that he held the rank of Global Moderator on the site.
He explained to officers that the site was run on a points-based system where users gained ‘reputation points’ for adhering to the rules and sharing abuse material.
New users to the site entered a guest portal and had to gain at least 10 reputation points to be admitted to the main site by sharing what Saunders described as “interesting material”.
He was in charge of the guest portal and responsible for issuing or deducting reputation points, as well as ultimately deciding who would be allowed through to the main site.
Just days after Saunders was arrested by NCA officers, he was charged by Wiltshire Police for breaching the sexual harm prevention order that had been placed on him by the force when he was released from prison for his previous offending.
He was remanded in custody and later sentenced to two years and eight months in prison for the breach.
Earlier this year he appeared at Swindon Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to nine counts in total, including arranging/facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child under 13, participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group, distributing and making indecent images of children in categories A-C, and possessing a prohibited image of a child.
Today (5 March) a judge at Swindon Crown Court sentenced Saunders to six years imprisonment and placed him on the Sex Offender Register for life. He was also handed a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
Adam Priestley, Branch Commander at the NCA, said: “The dark website over which Brett Saunders presided even went beyond enabling access to sexual abuse images, it provided a safe space for like-minded paedophiles to normalise the abhorrent abuse of children.
“Motivated by his own sexual interests, he was committed to climbing up the ranks and securing the senior position of Global Moderator. He then used his role to encourage the site’s members to share abuse material and engage in discussions about sexually exploiting children.
“This is the latest NCA investigation to demonstrate that dangerous offenders, who may think they can operate in the shadows online, can be identified and brought to account.
“Utilising our full range of capabilities, the NCA is committed to disrupting the most serious crime being committed on the dark web.”
5 March 2024
