Cambridge graduate Matthew Falder lived in Edgbaston, England, and was described as "one of the finest students with an international impact".
In 2007, he was one of the only 4% of participants awarded gold in the UK Senior Mathematics Challenge. Having no previous convictions and excelled at school, Falder was well-liked in his peer group, and was described as being extroverted, funny and larger than life.
Nobody expected him to be the "warped and sadistic" paedophile who blackmailed victims and shared abuse tips and images on the dark web.
Prosecutors described Falder to have lived a double life: a graduate of Cambridge University and Birmingham University researcher during the day and a sexual predator at night.
The Birmingham Crown Court, Judge Philip Parker QC labelled him as an "internet highwayman" with a "lust to control", after Falder admitted to the 137 charges against 46 people.
Falder didn't show apparent emotion during his three-and-a-half days of sentencing at the court. This is an exact opposite to some of his victims whom attended the court. Facing their tormentor during sentencing, many of them had a hard time containing their tears.
Even the investigators who read the evidence out loud were also visibly upset.
Scott Crabb, of U.S. Homeland Security said that:
"It's testament to the NCA who stuck with it for all these years, to ultimately catch him."
Prosecutor Ruona Iguyovwe, said:
"I feel as if I failed my daughter massively by being too trusting. That will never go away, and it is something I have to live with and struggle with the guilt for the rest of my life. I am carrying the weight of what happened on my shoulders daily and its been exhausting," said a mother who was tricked into sending Falder some images of her daughter.
Victims described how they "will never get over" what happened to them. Others felt "dirty, like used goods" after Falder was done with them.
The victims' encounter with Falder was so traumatizing that four of them attempted suicide.
Falder never really did meet or physically touch any of his victims; all of his crimes were actually committed using the dark web. Falder manipulated his victims that include young men, women and children to photograph themselves in compromising positions.
This includes and not limited to telling the victims to degrade themselves, like eating dog food, eat feces, licking toilet seats and tampons, or making them commit crimes against a third person such as rape or assault.
Once the victims fell for the trick, Falder told them to send him even more material or he would share images with their friends and family (sextortion). With the many falling as victims, Falder shared the images to "hurtcore" websites, which are hidden forums on the dark web where users share sharing images and videos of rape, torture, paedophilia and degradation.
Because of the many contributions Falder made to dark web forums, he was given "VIP status" on the sites. A total of 484 images were found on Falder's computer after his arrest.
Some of the comments Falder made to reply others on those websites included: "Glad you are all enjoying her suffering" and "I love blackmail, especially forcing someone met online to do things they don't want to for amusement".
The the National Crime Agency (NCA) described him as "one of the most prolific and depraved offenders they had ever encountered."
It began back in August 2013, when the FBI started digging into dark web paedophilia sites. There, the authorities identified a user known as 'Inthegarden'. After passing the information to the NCA, the authorities started a four-year operation to identify the real person behind the nickname.
It was during this investigation that the authorities were able to link Inthegarden to Falder, and to also other usernames, like "evilmind" and "666devil".
After a four-year manhunt, NCA with the help of GCHQ, U.S. Homeland Security, Europol, Australian Federal Police, New Zealand Police, and the Israel Police, arrested Falder when he was at his office at his place of work on 21 June 2017.
"At one point there were 100 investigators working on this case using the broadest range of new covert capabilities to try and identify and catch him," said Will Kerr, director of vulnerabilities for the NCA.
For what he did, Falder pleaded guilty to 137 charges from 46 people, making him one of the UK's most prolific convicted sex offenders. In February 2018 he was jailed for 32 years and ordered to serve a further six years on extended licence. The Court of Appeal later however, reduced the term of imprisonment to 25 years, with an extended licence of 8 years.
Falder should not be eligible for parole until he is at least 50 years old.
"The University is shocked to hear of the abhorrent crimes committed by a former post-doctoral researcher," said a spokesperson for the University of Birmingham.
And as for The University of Cambridge, its spokesperson said that it's "actively pursuing" ways of stripping Falder of his academic qualifications.