UK Paedophile Paid Rs 65 Lakhs to Indian Teens to Record Sexual Abuse, Police Recover 1,20,000 Images – News18

The UK authorities have arrested a man from London for allegedly being involved in child sexual abuse in India and recovered thousands of images and videos of sexual harassment perpetrated on children from his devices.

34-year-old Matthew Smith allegedly paid Rs 65 lakh to two teenagers in India over five years to sexually assault boys and share images. The authorities suspect that it is part of a larger child porn racket as they discovered thousands of images and videos of sexual abuse, a report in Hindustan Times said.

He has been accused of child sexual abuse in India between 2007 and 2014 before he moved to Nepal and then back to the UK.

“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,” Claire Brinton, specialist prosecutor in the Crown Prosecution Service’s Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit reportedly said the publication.

Matthew Smith has been educated at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and was employed at Thomas’s prep school in Battersea, which was once attended by Prince George and Princess Charlotte, the grandchildren of King Charles, the report said.

He worked as a primary school teacher in the UK and was promoted to the position of deputy head teacher.

The Indian authorities, meanwhile, are now identifying Smith’s victims and accomplices who helped him in carrying out the crimes.

During his stay in India, the accused worked in orphanages and at NGOs, where he managed to build a network of child sexual abuse accomplices and remained in touch with them even after moving to the UK last year.

Smith used to manipulate teenage boys in India and used to teach them on how to befriend minors and then he would send them videos and images of sexual acts that he wanted performed and recorded, the prosecutors said.

Over 1,20,000 images have been recovered from him, which were saved on his phone, laptop and an SD card. He came under the radar of authorities after he shared images of child sexual abuse on the dark web.