Paedophile who went abroad to sexually abuse children jailed for 21 years

A paedophile has been jailed for travelling to other countries to sexually abuse children and advising others on how to do the same on a dark web chat site.

David Mould, 68, of Seaford, East Sussex, made trips to the Philippines and Nepal between April 2018 and May 2019, to sexually abuse and exploit children.

Today he was sentenced to 21 years imprisonment with an extended licence of seven years at Lewes Crown Court. He has also been banned from travelling to 22 countries as part of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order, was issued a restraining order, and will have to sign the sex offenders register for life.

On the dark web using the username “Globe Trotter”, Mould held an account on an international paedophile chat site which allowed users to share indecent images of children and utilise message boards to discuss and exchange stories of abuse.

It was apparent from Mould’s conversations on this site, that when travelling to Nepal and the Philippines, he would try to go to smaller cities and rural areas to meet local families. He would befriend young boys there, often giving them money and gifts, in order to groom and then sexually abuse them.

As a moderator of the dark web site, Mould provided advice for other paedophile sex tourists and encouraged other users to commit similar offences on an international scale. He told users precisely where to go, how to find, approach and groom boys, as well as what sort of toys and sweets to take with them. Mould also possessed four paedophile manuals and provided very detailed technical advice on how to encrypt and wipe devices to avoid law enforcement detection.

Mould was arrested at his home address on 2 April 2020 by the National Crime Agency (NCA). A variety of digital equipment from his home and work address was seized which provided a wealth of digital evidence linking Mould to his offences.

With the assistance of the Philippines National Bureau of Investigation a number of victims were located who helped to identify Mould as one of a number of men who sexually abused them when they were younger children. 

The overwhelming amount of evidence against Mould in this case led to him pleading guilty to 24 charges. These charges include: one count of attempting to cause a child to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity, two counts of causing/inciting child sexual exploitation, five counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of possessing prohibited images of a child, six counts of intentionally encouraging/assisting the commission of an offence, four counts of possessing a paedophile manual, three counts of making indecent images of children, one count of distributing an indecent image of a child and one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image.

Jeanette Smith, Specialist Prosecutor of the CPS’ Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said: “David Mould travelled to the Philippines and Nepal, where he targeted vulnerable children, exploiting and manipulating them, to sexually abuse them. Not content with satisfying his own sexual desires, he used the dark web to advise and encourage other paedophiles how they might best commit equally horrific crimes.

“Mould sought to evade detection, using the dark web and encryption software, but the National Crime Agency investigation uncovered his activity and their intervention brought an end to it.  

“Our Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit was set up in April 2022 to prosecute offenders who engage in child sexual abuse. This case highlights that predatory paedophiles who conduct their activity in different parts of the globe will be pursued by UK law enforcement and prosecuted by the CPS. Stopping the worldwide sexual exploitation of children and the use of the internet to disseminate abuse is an absolute priority.”