Man accused of running dark web child abuse sites

2 hours ago

News image — Matthew Slate, who lives on the edge of Alexandra Park in north London, is accused of facilitating the sexual abuse of children

PA Man stands outside Magistrates court in black shirt with dark beard and hair. — Matthew Slate, who lives on the edge of Alexandra Park in north London, is accused of facilitating the sexual abuse of children

A suspected paedophile from north London has appeared in court charged with running dark web forums to share images and videos of child sexual abuse.

Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court heard that Matthew Slate, 36, from Haringey was part of a global organised group.

It is alleged that he worked as a "global moderator" under the username Loudechoes on a site called Olympus, and that his illegal activities spanned more than 18 months. He is also accused of working on another alleged child abuse site between 20 July 2023 and 15 June 2024.

The case has been sent to Wood Green Crown Court, where a plea hearing is expected to take place on 19 February.

Prosecutors further allege that he paid the cryptocurrency Monero in August 2024 for a third forum, SoulCloud 2, to be hosted on the dark web.

Slate is charged with:

Three counts of arranging or facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child under 13 years of age
Two counts of participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group
Six counts of distributing an indecent photograph or pseudo‑photograph of a child
Three counts of making indecent photographs or pseudo‑photographs of a child
One count of possessing a prohibited image of a child.

Slate is alleged to have facilitated the sharing of more than 2,000 images and videos of child sexual abuse between July 2023 and February 2025, as well as amassing around 57,000 illegal images of children, including more than 10,000 in the most serious category of abuse, the court heard.

Slate has been released on bail under nine conditions, including compliance with National Crime Agency requests to access his electronic devices.

He is banned from using encryption or data wiping software, messaging apps such as Snapchat, WhatsApp and Signal, accessing the dark web, or deleting his browsing history.

He must live overnight at his north London home or an alternative address in Epping and is prohibited from having unsupervised contact with children.

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