Runcorn mechanic Nathan Bake  ran The Annex dark web child abuse site

Nathan Bake was one of three UK-based moderators of a site called ‘The Annex’ who were identified by the National Crime Agency, as part of an investigation targeting those behind the site.

The Annex, which is no longer active, had around 90,000 global members who used it to share millions of child abuse images and discuss some of the most extreme kinds of abuse material, involving ‘hurtcore’ and the sexual abuse of babies and toddlers.

NCA branch commander Adam Priestley said: “There was nothing on this site that was off limits. Everything was encouraged.”

As the head moderator, 28-year-old Bake was second in command of the entire site, which was run by an American man, of Alabama, who was sentenced to life in prison in the US in January.

Bake was responsible for managing around 30 staff members, and he worked with them to enforce the site’s rules and ensure it continued to run smoothly.

Two such staff members were Kabir Garg, a psychiatrist from London, and a 48-year-old man from Eastbourne, who will be sentenced at Lewes Crown Court next week.

The pair were also moderators and sat just below Bake in the site’s hierarchy. Garg was jailed for six years last year.

New users of The Annex would first be held in the ‘gateway’, where they would have to impress and gain the trust of the site’s administrators by posting a certain amount of abuse material, before being granted access to the wider site with names such as ‘Tots ‘R’ Us’ and ‘No Limits’.

Bake and the other moderators would advise members on techniques to evade law enforcement detection, and encourage them to keep the site busy by sharing links to child abuse content.

In one post recovered by the NCA, Bake said: “Come on people, Show us what you’ve got for HAPPY HOUR. Show us the boys and girls that turn you on the most.”

Kabir Garg was previously jailed for six years (Image: NCA)

Anna Pope, prosecuting, told the court that The Annex, which was identified by American law enforcement officers on a server in Romania in 2020 before being moved to a server in Moldova, was a ‘sophisticated and well-structured operation’.

NCA officers arrested Bake at his Harrow Drive home in Runcorn in November 2022 and seized a number of devices, including laptops, phones, USBs and external hard drives.

One laptop was running, with the TOR dark web browser in use and indecent images of children on the screen.

Officers gathered evidence from his devices which proved Bake was co-creator of a second child abuse site, and he was also the head moderator of a directory-style page that contained links to further abuse forums on the dark web.

The court heard that more than 3.6million indecent images were recovered from devices at Bake’s home following his arrest in November 2022, and children’s tights, underwear and sandals were found in the bottom drawer of his computer desk.

Officers also found a 576-page paedophile manual.

Bake pleaded guilty to 12 counts in November 2023, including facilitating the sexual exploitation of children, participating in an organised crime group, possession of a paedophile manual and distributing and making indecent images of children.

He was sentenced today, Wednesday, at Chester Crown Court to 16 years in prison, with judge Patrick Thompson also imposing an extended licence period of four years after considering Bake to be a ‘dangerous’ offender.

Bake was also placed on the sex offender register for life and given a lifetime sexual harm prevention order.

Judge Thompson said: “In this day and age, given the wide public access to news material, there is very little that shocks the public, but this is such a case.

“People are revulsed by offending of this nature and those who take sexual gratification from the abuse of children in any form.

Bake was sentenced at Chester Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

“You are a committed paedophile who represents a very significant risk of causing serious harm to children.”

Keith Jones, defending Bake, said his client was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at the age of 16, had converted to Islam, was studying Arabic and ‘finding some peace in the scriptures’.

He said: “He acknowledges that his behaviour is morally reprehensible.”

The NCA worked with a number of international partners to target the group of moderators.

A further 14 men have been charged in the US for their roles in helping to run The Annex, with eight receiving sentences of between six and 28 years.

Daniel Waywell, senior investigating officer from the NCA, said: “Bake was one of a select number of individuals that played a vital role in ensuring The Annex continued to run and was able to facilitate child sexual abuse on a global scale.

“He started as a user himself, but he worked his way up the rankings by actively sharing a substantial amount of material and encouraging the discussion of horrific abuse, thus gaining the trust of other moderators.

“Such was his dedication to this global community of paedophiles that he also committed his time, on top of his day job as a mechanic, to running and setting up other dark web sites that assisted their offending.

“Sites such as these directly and openly encourage users to commit sexual offences against children, and those who run or access them assume they are protected by anonymity.

“However, the NCA has the determination and technical capability to target those who use the dark web to endanger and harm children.

“We work closely with international partners to ensure offenders are identified and brought to justice.”