Hornsey paedophile John Thorogood jailed for Morocco abuse

Paedophile John Thorogood, 75, of Middle Lane, Hornsey, was part of an international abuse network whose members travelled the globe abusing kids. 

In 2012 he went to Morocco and sexually assaulted boys aged 10 to 12.

He had also taken horrific sexual images of boys as young as one.

He photographed the abuse as it took place and shared the material with other members of the sick group. 

Thorogood was caught when international investigators recovered those images from another member of the paedophile ring. 

They also found emails sent by Thorogood, who was known by other members as ‘the Trader’. 

Thorogood was already known to police as he had previously been arrested and convicted for possessing indecent images of children. 

When he was arrested officers found 200,000 child abuse images on his phone and laptop – including images of boys as young as one. 

They also found a photo of his suitcase, which had a luggage label for a flight from London to Casablanca, Morocco, in July 2012.

Thorogood pleaded guilty to seven charges on August 31, 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 indecent images of children. 

He appeared at Wood Green Crown Court on Wednesday (December 20) and was jailed for seven years and eight months. 

He will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 15 years and will be on the sex offenders register for life. 

Once released from prison he will be banned from international travel for five years.

Phil Eccles, operations manager at the National Crime Agency, 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."

Christopher Behn, a man from Essex who was part of the same network, was recently sentenced to 17 years in prison for for sexually abusing boys in south east Asian countries on over 20 trips between 2008-2018. 

Christopher Behn (Image: NCA)Four other men in the UK have been arrested on suspicion of being linked to the network. 

Mr Eccles said: “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.”