International Paedophile Ring Convicted: Nudist Website Used as Cover

A woman and four men were found guilty on Wednesday of offenses relating to an international paedophile ring that used a nudist website as a guise for its crimes.

John Maddox, 46, of Rainham, Essex, was convicted of a charge of causing a child to engage in sexual activity. He had previously pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing indecent photographs of children.

Hampshire police began investigating the ring after receiving information from Australian authorities. Australian authorities uncovered a "mirror image" ring that also abused a young child.

The investigation revealed that one of the convicted individuals, identified as Hathaway, was in contact with the Australian ring and shared images with them. One of the charges faced by Noon concerned her encouragement of an Australian child to engage in sexual activity.

Police uncovered extensive evidence, including 2,000 pages of chat logs, 14,000 indecent images of children, and 300 videos of children being abused.