Paedophile raped baby
A DEPRAVED paedophile who filmed himself raping a baby and sexually assaulting a toddler in a bid to join a sick online club has been jailed.
Tashan Gallagher was hauled before the courts after the Nike Air Max trainers he was wearing in one of the horrific videos were found at his house.
The 31-year-old, from Leigh, has been jailed for 14 years. A judge said Gallagher’s ‘breach of trust [had been in] the vilest possible manner.’
Bolton Crown Court heard Gallagher uploaded footage of the heinous sex attacks to an encrypted app in order to get access to more vile images and film of child abuse.
His crimes were uncovered by National Crime Agency (NCA) detectives following a tip-off from the US.
Gallagher admitted one charge of rape; four counts of sexual assault; five charges of making indecent photographs; two counts of distributing an indecent image of a child; and two counts of possession of indecent images.
In 2017, Gallagher filmed his attacks on the children four times and uploaded them to Telegram, a Russianbased messaging app.
He did so because wanted to join a private paedophile discussion group, which had a condition that new members must post new abuse images.
Homeland security investigations in the US shared intelligence with the NCA, stemming from an industry report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Officers searched his house and found the pair of Nike Air Max trainers he wore in one of the abuse videos. The mobile phone he used to record and upload the footage was also seized.
Gallagher was made the subject on an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. He will be made to sign the sex offender register for life.
NCA operations manager Graham Ellis said: “Tashan Gallagher has been convicted of some truly incomprehensible, horrific crimes.
“His escalation of offending is very frightening. The NCA will continue to work with our partners, at home and abroad, to ensure those who abuse children are brought to justice.”