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Former Wonderland Club member jailed again

Tags:
Paedophile,
NHTCU

Dan Ilet ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 01 Nov 2004 15:44 GMT

A previously convicted paedophile who was linked to the Internet child pornography ring the Wonderland Club, is today facing a four year jail sentence.

Ian Baldock, a 35 year-old computer consultant, is likely to serve half of his jail sentence for downloading more than 96,000 paedophilic images and movies.

Baldock from east Sussex received three years for charges of distribution, three years for the production of, and four years for the possession of paedophilic material, for which he will serve a maximum of four years and three months in jail.

Baldock is likely to serve half that sentence, but has been put on extended licence for four years, which means if he re-offends with four years of being released, he will have to serve the entire sentence next time he is convicted.

Police in Sussex and the National High Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) arrested the second-time offender, and charged him with 13 counts of distributing and 32 counts of producing indecent images of children.

In 1998 Baldock was sentenced to jail for two and a half years when police investigated him in Operation Cathedral -- a National Crime Squad investigation into the Wonderland Club.

Police began investigating Baldock again in April, after David Ward was arrested in York last year in connection with similar crimes. In June this year, Ward was sentenced to imprisonment at York Crown Court. The NHTCU analysed his server and found an account that had accessed the server numerous times, which identified the owner as Ian Baldock.

"Trading in indecent images of children is a despicable crime and we are determined to track and find those who perpetrate it," said Detective Chief Superintendent Mick Deats, head of the NHTCU. "This is not a victimless offence. The images show real children, suffering real time abuse and we are determined to find those responsible and bring them to justice."