# Matthew Falder
**Matthew Falder** is a British former geophysicist and [University of Cambridge](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-cambridge) graduate who was jailed in 2018 for one of the largest online sexual blackmail cases prosecuted in the United Kingdom. Working as a lecturer and post-doctoral researcher at the [University of Birmingham](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-birmingham), he blackmailed 46 identified victims, including children and teenagers, into producing degrading images of themselves over an eight-year period, and admitted 137 offenses at Birmingham Crown Court.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/matthew-falder-latest-paedophile-jailed-32-years-sexual-abuse-blackmail-children-dark-web-a8217581.html) • [2](https://news.sky.com/story/dark-web-paedophile-matthew-falder-jailed-for-32-years-11257478)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Occupation at arrest | Lecturer and post-doctoral researcher in geophysics at the University of Birmingham; arrested in June 2017[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/matthew-falder-latest-paedophile-jailed-32-years-sexual-abuse-blackmail-children-dark-web-a8217581.html) |
| Guilty pleas | 137 offenses against 46 victims, including encouraging the rape of a child, blackmail, sexual exploitation, voyeurism and making indecent images; a further 51 charges lay on file under a plea agreement[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/matthew-falder-latest-paedophile-jailed-32-years-sexual-abuse-blackmail-children-dark-web-a8217581.html) • [3](https://uk-database.org/2017/10/16/matthew-falder-birmingham-2/) |
| Online identities | Around 70 identities, including "Inthegarden", "666devil" and "evilmind"; posed on Gumtree as a depressed female artist called "Liz"[2](https://news.sky.com/story/dark-web-paedophile-matthew-falder-jailed-for-32-years-11257478) • [4](https://news.sky.com/story/paedophile-victim-how-i-fell-into-matthew-falders-trap-11258004) |
| Reach | Contacted more than 300 people worldwide through online advertisements; all were reviewed by NCA child protection advisors[5](https://www.independent.ie/world-news/britain/paedophile-blackmailed-victims-into-sex-acts-and-forced-one-to-eat-dog-food/36584770.html) • [6](https://www.unodc.org/cld/uploads/res/treaties/strategies/united_kingdom/_html/SOC-2018-web.pdf) |
| Original sentence | 32 years' imprisonment, February 2018, with parole eligibility after two-thirds of the term, in 2038[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/matthew-falder-latest-paedophile-jailed-32-years-sexual-abuse-blackmail-children-dark-web-a8217581.html) • [2](https://news.sky.com/story/dark-web-paedophile-matthew-falder-jailed-for-32-years-11257478) |
| Sentence on appeal | Reduced in October 2018; parliamentary record of December 2018 gives the sentence as 25 years[7](https://www.innertemplelibrary.com/2018/10/dark-web-paedophile-matthew-falders-sentence-reduced-bbc-news/) • [8](https://hansard.parliament.uk/pdf/Commons/2018-12-03) |
| Significance | The National Crime Agency's first case in "hurtcore" offending, and the first successful UK prosecution for crimes linked to hurtcore forums[9](https://www.itv.com/news/2017-10-16/cambridge-graduate-matthew-falder-admits-sexually-abusing-and-blackmailing-50-victims-over-gumtree-and-dark-web) • [10](https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-repulsive-world-of-hurtcore-the-worst-crimes-imaginable/) |
## Method of offending
Falder's prosecution arose from a pattern of online sexual extortion that ran for eight years. He approached more than 300 people, from young teenagers to adults, through advertisements on classified sites such as [Gumtree](https://www.edgepedia.org/gumtree), posing as a depressed female artist called "Liz" who offered money for images to use in life drawings.[5](https://www.independent.ie/world-news/britain/paedophile-blackmailed-victims-into-sex-acts-and-forced-one-to-eat-dog-food/36584770.html) • [4](https://news.sky.com/story/paedophile-victim-how-i-fell-into-matthew-falders-trap-11258004) Once a victim sent an initial image, he threatened to distribute it to friends, family and school contacts unless the victim complied with a constant stream of increasingly severe demands, which included photographing themselves in degrading acts such as eating dog food and licking a toilet seat.[5](https://www.independent.ie/world-news/britain/paedophile-blackmailed-victims-into-sex-acts-and-forced-one-to-eat-dog-food/36584770.html) • [2](https://news.sky.com/story/dark-web-paedophile-matthew-falder-jailed-for-32-years-11257478)
The material was traded on dark-web forums dedicated to extreme abuse, where Falder sought "kudos" and VIP status, which granted greater access to other members' material.[3](https://uk-database.org/2017/10/16/matthew-falder-birmingham-2/) • [2](https://news.sky.com/story/dark-web-paedophile-matthew-falder-jailed-for-32-years-11257478) In a forum thread titled "100 things we want to see at least once", he suggested abuse scenarios involving children.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/matthew-falder-latest-paedophile-jailed-32-years-sexual-abuse-blackmail-children-dark-web-a8217581.html) The charges he admitted included persuading a father to rape and torture his two-year-old son.[2](https://news.sky.com/story/dark-web-paedophile-matthew-falder-jailed-for-32-years-11257478) Other reporting and government documents give the child's age as four.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/matthew-falder-latest-paedophile-jailed-32-years-sexual-abuse-blackmail-children-dark-web-a8217581.html) • [6](https://www.unodc.org/cld/uploads/res/treaties/strategies/united_kingdom/_html/SOC-2018-web.pdf)
Falder also installed hidden cameras in publicly accessible toilets and at his parents' home, using the footage for blackmail and for trading online.[3](https://uk-database.org/2017/10/16/matthew-falder-birmingham-2/) Three of his victims attempted to kill themselves.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/matthew-falder-latest-paedophile-jailed-32-years-sexual-abuse-blackmail-children-dark-web-a8217581.html)
## The investigation
The [National Crime Agency](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-crime-agency) (NCA) was first alerted in 2012 to a UK-based user called "Inthegarden" on a site investigators considered the "world's worst website", but the suspect could not be identified. In April 2015 the NCA began investigating a user called "666devil", who was using a picture of a young girl he claimed was his daughter as his avatar, and intelligence work established that this user was the same person as "evilmind" and "Inthegarden".[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/matthew-falder-latest-paedophile-jailed-32-years-sexual-abuse-blackmail-children-dark-web-a8217581.html) Identifying him took four years.[2](https://news.sky.com/story/dark-web-paedophile-matthew-falder-jailed-for-32-years-11257478)
The operation drew on an international task force. Partners included US Homeland Security Investigations, GCHQ, the [Australian Federal Police](https://www.edgepedia.org/australian-federal-police), Europol, and agencies in Israel, Slovenia and New Zealand.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/matthew-falder-latest-paedophile-jailed-32-years-sexual-abuse-blackmail-children-dark-web-a8217581.html) • [6](https://www.unodc.org/cld/uploads/res/treaties/strategies/united_kingdom/_html/SOC-2018-web.pdf) Falder routed his activity through Tor, used encrypted email, and maintained little or no clear internet footprint; the UK's 2018 Serious and Organised Crime Strategy cites the case as an example of offenders with a high degree of technological sophistication using multiple fake identities and anonymisation techniques to stay hidden.[11](https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/29579/1/National%20Strategic%20Assessment%20of%20Serious%20Organised%20Crime.pdf) • [6](https://www.unodc.org/cld/uploads/res/treaties/strategies/united_kingdom/_html/SOC-2018-web.pdf) At one point around 100 investigators worked on the case using a broad range of covert capabilities.[12](https://docenti.unimc.it/martin.harper/teaching/2024/31304/files/lesson-10-9-5-2025)
He was arrested at the University of Birmingham in June 2017 and questioned over three days, answering no comment before providing two prepared statements. When told the charges, he told investigators: "That sounds like the rap sheet from hell."[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/matthew-falder-latest-paedophile-jailed-32-years-sexual-abuse-blackmail-children-dark-web-a8217581.html) • [2](https://news.sky.com/story/dark-web-paedophile-matthew-falder-jailed-for-32-years-11257478)
## Prosecution and sentencing
Falder pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court in October 2017 to 137 offenses, with a further 51 charges left on file under a plea agreement, in what was reported as one of the cases with the highest number of charges against a single defendant.[3](https://uk-database.org/2017/10/16/matthew-falder-birmingham-2/) He was sentenced on 19 February 2018 to 32 years in prison. Judge Philip Parker QC described his behavior as "cunning, persistent, manipulative and cruel" and a "tale of ever increasing depravity", and told him he would serve at least two-thirds of the sentence before parole eligibility in 2038, with release dependent on a Parole Board decision.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/matthew-falder-latest-paedophile-jailed-32-years-sexual-abuse-blackmail-children-dark-web-a8217581.html) • [2](https://news.sky.com/story/dark-web-paedophile-matthew-falder-jailed-for-32-years-11257478)
In October 2018 his sentence was reduced on appeal; a December 2018 parliamentary record states the sentence as 25 years.[7](https://www.innertemplelibrary.com/2018/10/dark-web-paedophile-matthew-falders-sentence-reduced-bbc-news/) • [8](https://hansard.parliament.uk/pdf/Commons/2018-12-03)
## Aftermath
The University of Cambridge said it was pursuing ways to strip Falder of his degrees, and NCA senior investigating officer Matt Sutton called the investigation a "watershed moment" for policing online offenders.[1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/matthew-falder-latest-paedophile-jailed-32-years-sexual-abuse-blackmail-children-dark-web-a8217581.html) The UK government cited the case in its 2018 Serious and Organised Crime Strategy and committed £20 million over three years to support the identification of offenders using the internet to groom children.[6](https://www.unodc.org/cld/uploads/res/treaties/strategies/united_kingdom/_html/SOC-2018-web.pdf) • [1](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/matthew-falder-latest-paedophile-jailed-32-years-sexual-abuse-blackmail-children-dark-web-a8217581.html) The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse later cited Falder's convictions in its evidence on online-facilitated child sexual abuse.[13](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/631755b8e90e070542e952fd/E02733227_HC_646_IICSA_Inv_Report_Combined_Volume_4_ELAY.pdf)
## References
1. [Matthew Falder: One of Britain's most prolific paedophiles jailed for 32 years after blackmailing children on dark web, The Independent (19 February 2018)](https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/crime/matthew-falder-latest-paedophile-jailed-32-years-sexual-abuse-blackmail-children-dark-web-a8217581.html)
2. ['Warped and sadistic' online paedophile Matthew Falder jailed for 32 years, Sky News (20 February 2018)](https://news.sky.com/story/dark-web-paedophile-matthew-falder-jailed-for-32-years-11257478)
3. [Matthew Falder – Birmingham, UK Database (16 October 2017)](https://uk-database.org/2017/10/16/matthew-falder-birmingham-2/)
4. [Paedophile victim: How I fell into Matthew Falder's trap, Sky News (19 February 2018)](https://news.sky.com/story/paedophile-victim-how-i-fell-into-matthew-falders-trap-11258004)
5. [Paedophile blackmailed victims into sex acts and forced one to eat dog food, Irish Independent (9 February 2018)](https://www.independent.ie/world-news/britain/paedophile-blackmailed-victims-into-sex-acts-and-forced-one-to-eat-dog-food/36584770.html)
6. [Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, HM Government, November 2018](https://www.unodc.org/cld/uploads/res/treaties/strategies/united_kingdom/_html/SOC-2018-web.pdf)
7. [Dark web paedophile Matthew Falder's sentence reduced – BBC News, Inner Temple Current Awareness (17 October 2018)](https://www.innertemplelibrary.com/2018/10/dark-web-paedophile-matthew-falders-sentence-reduced-bbc-news/)
8. [House of Commons Hansard, 3 December 2018, Crime (Overseas Production Orders) debate](https://hansard.parliament.uk/pdf/Commons/2018-12-03)
9. [Cambridge graduate admits 137 online sexual abuse offences, ITV News (16 October 2017)](https://www.itv.com/news/2017-10-16/cambridge-graduate-matthew-falder-admits-sexually-abusing-and-blackmailing-50-victims-over-gumtree-and-dark-web)
10. [Inside the Repulsive World of 'Hurtcore', Vice](https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-repulsive-world-of-hurtcore-the-worst-crimes-imaginable/)
11. [National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime 2018, National Crime Agency](https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/29579/1/National%20Strategic%20Assessment%20of%20Serious%20Organised%20Crime.pdf)
12. [Cambridge Graduate Gets 32-Year Jail Sentence for Online Blackmail Campaign (teaching notes citing NCA)](https://docenti.unimc.it/martin.harper/teaching/2024/31304/files/lesson-10-9-5-2025)
13. [Investigation reports of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Volume 5](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/631755b8e90e070542e952fd/E02733227_HC_646_IICSA_Inv_Report_Combined_Volume_4_ELAY.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Law and justice › Criminal law and penal justice › Offenses › Sexual offences and sexual violence › Indecency, harassment, and other offenses*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license