Cambridge to strip paedophile’s degrees
Cambridge University is taking away a paedophile’s student qualifications after he was jailed for 32 years for a campaign of appalling internet abuse. Matthew Falder, 29, admitted blackmailing scores of men, women and children into carrying out humiliating and degrading acts.
CAMBRIDGE University is taking away a paedophile’s academic qualifications after he was jailed for 32 years for a campaign of appalling internet abuse against a string of vulnerable victims.
Matthew Falder, 29, who was awarded a masters and PHD by the university, admitted blackmailing scores of men, women and children into carrying out humiliating and degrading acts, which left some suicidal.
The geophysicist had been described by a university tutor as one of the finest students he had ever taught.
But his descent into the depraved world of “hurtcore” where dark web users take pleasure in witnessing physical and mental torture, caused a judge to call him an “internet highwayman”.
Falder duped his targets into sending naked images of themselves, then blackmailed them into committing increasingly depraved acts. These included encouraging the rape of a child, forcing a girl to eat dog food, making another lick a lavatory seat and getting another to eat their own faeces.
The Birmingham University academic targeted more than 300 victims yet evaded capture for eight years by operating on the so-called dark web.
He was only caught following a concerted international investigation led by the National Crime Agency, which involved the cooperation of the Department for Homeland Security in America and spies based at GCHQ.
Will Kerr, of the NCA, said in all his 28 years of policing he had never encountered a more “dangerous individual”. Supervising senior investigations officer Scott Crabb, of Homeland Security in the US, also described him as a “monster” and “pure evil”. He said: “Falder is absolutely the worst child exploitation and blackmail offender I have ever seen.”
Following sentencing, Cambridge University took what is believed to be the unprecedented step of stripping him of his qualifications. A spokesman said the sheer depravity of Falder’s crimes had “appalled and distressed” the community and taking away a degree was so rare the university itself was unsure of the procedure. Previous graduates who have been convicted of appalling and depraved crimes include Rurik Jutting, a banker who murdered two women in Hong Kong in 2014.
Even the Cambridge spy ring of Philby, Maclean, Burgess, Blunt and John Cairncross, who betrayed the country to the Russians, were never deprived of their academic qualifications. Judge Philip Parker QC said Falder had every advantage in life, having been brought up in a loving family and benefited from a world-class education.
But he said despite never having actually met any of his victims, he had sought to assume control over them. “Your behaviour was cunning, persistent, manipulative and cruel,” he said. Despite his offences Falder’s long-term girlfriend was said to be standing by him, according to his barrister, and his parents had vowed to support him upon his release, though he would not be eligible for parole until he was 50.
Birmingham Crown Court heard Falder duped his victims by posing as a female artist who wanted to use nude images to create life drawings. Once he had the photographs, he used them to blackmail the victims into taking part in increasingly degrading activities.
Mr Kerr said police were becoming more uneasy at the emergence of “hurtcore” offending. “Falder is not alone,” he said. “There are many other users of some of these dark web sites and we are very concerned about it.”