A Peterborough man has been jailed after creating thousands of indecent images of children, some of which were shared in WhatsApp groups with more than 20,000 members.

Derbyshire Police said that Andrew Moseley first became a person of interest for officers following a referral from the National Crime Agency (NCA), whereby he had been communicating with a 14-year-old boy who had uploaded explicit images of himself to the internet.

Moseley, of Speechley Drove, Borough Fen, Peterborough was arrested in July 2023 and his devices were seized.

Police said that during an examination of his devices, it was found that he had been participating in 36 WhatsApp group chats about the sexual abuse of children.

These chats discussed the sharing of indecent images and videos of children.

The chats had a total of 24,042 members from 141 countries across the world.

Derbyshire Police said that some of the material on Moseley’s devices dated back to 2009, showing that he had been involved in discussing and inciting the sexual abuse of children and making and sharing images of abuse for 15 years.

What he was charged with

Moseley admitted the following offences:

Causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity

Making indecent images of children - Category A

Making indecent images of children - Category B

Making indecent images of category children – Category C

Distributing a Category A indecent image of a child (x2 counts)

Distributing three Category B images of children

Conspiracy to distribute indecent images of children

Possessing indecent images of children

Possessing prohibited images of children

Possessing images of extreme pornography

Attempting to incite the sexual exploitation of a child

Conspiracy to incite a child under 16 to engage in a penetrative sexual activity

The 60-year-old, formally of Church Gresley in South Derbyshire, appeared at Derby Crown Court and was jailed for 10 years.

Moseley was also given a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a Deprivation of Rights Order in respect of the devices that were seized from him during the police investigation.

“The magnitude of his offending is horrifying”

Detective Constable, Heather Rogers, officer in the case said: “The sheer magnitude and reach of Moseley’s offending – which spanned over 140 countries – is horrifying.

“While this sentence cannot undo the lasting harm that has been caused to the many child victims in this case, it does mean a massive disruption in the sharing of child sexual abuse material across Moseley’s worldwide network.

“The prevention of further such material being shared and Moseley being put safely behind bars, makes our online spaces that little bit safer.”

Detective Chief Inspector, Jim Carver, who is Derbyshire’s force lead for Child Sexual Exploitation added: “Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is a far-reaching crime that can have a life-long impact on victims and their families.

“No child should have to suffer in this way, and we take all reports of this nature extremely seriously.

“To anyone engaging in this type of criminal activity – I hope that the details of this case prove that it is only a matter of time until you are caught.”