An ex-deputy head teacher of an elementary school in London has pleaded guilty to paying and ordering youngsters in India, where he worked for seven years, to send him over 120,000 obscene pictures of young students.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) reported that East Dulwich resident Matthew Smith, 34, was charged on Tuesday with five offences, including causing the sexual exploitation of a child under 13, and was held in custody.
Smith was detained in November 2022 after it was discovered through investigations that he was disseminating abusive content on the dark web. He will be sentenced at the Southwark Crown Court on August 4.
According to National Crime Agency, he had been talking to a juvenile boy in India online at the time of his arrest and encouraging him to give sexual photographs of a younger child in exchange for money. On his computer, he also had forums and dark web pages devoted to child sex abuse open.
By examining chat logs and money transactions, NCA officers proved that Smith had paid the same youngster and another who was also situated in India GBP 65,398 over a five-year period. Officers discovered more than 120,000 lewd photos of minors that Smith had saved on his phone, an SD card, and the laptop.
Helen Dore, Senior Officer of the National Crime Agency commented on the issue and said, “Matthew Smith was a high-risk individual and we moved quickly to locate, arrest and remand him so he could no longer pose a threat to children. Ultimately, we were able to prove that he was a prolific offender who manipulated young men to sexually abuse children on his behalf, giving them detailed instructions and financial reward.”
Claire Brinton, Specialist Prosecutor in the Crown Prosecution Service Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said, “Thousands of images and videos were recovered from his devices which showed an appalling catalogue of sexual abuse being perpetrated on children. Smith offered individuals payments for indecent images to gratify his own sexual desires, which resulted in the horrifying abuse of young children in India.”
Smith spent most of this period living in Nepal and working at a school. Between 2007 and 2014, he worked intermittently in orphanages and NGOs all around India. He returned to the UK in July 2022, and in September he started working as a deputy head teacher and head of pastoral care at the primary school in London.
The chat records revealed that Smith would tell the young guys to have sex with boys while also sending them pictures and videos of sex acts he would like to see in return. Smith pleaded guilty to the initial offences in November 2022. He appeared at Southwark Crown Court on June 20 where he pleaded guilty to the additional charges. He’ll be sentenced at the same court on 4 August 2023.