Indian Psychiatrist Jailed for 6 Years in UK for Running Child Sex Abuse Website, 7,000 Images Recovered

An Indian psychiatrist has been sentenced to six years in prison for helping to run a child sexual abuse website.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said in a report that Dr. Kabir Garg, 33, of Lewisham, southeast London, had pleaded guilty before Woolwich Crown Court to his role in facilitating the exploitation of children.

Garg was sentenced on 23 June at Woolwich Crown Court, and is on the sex offenders register for life. The court heard that he acted as a “moderator” of the dark site dedicated to sharing images of abuse.

“Garg has been involved in facilitating widespread pedophilia. He has used the dark web to reach a global community of pedophiles who share and discuss horrific crimes against children,” Adam Priestley, of the National Crime Agency, said in a statement.

He completed his MBBS from King George Medical University, Lucknow and worked at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru before moving to the UK.

He was arrested in November last year and pleaded guilty to eight counts in January, including sexual exploitation of children and making and distributing indecent images.

Authorities said Garg was one of the moderators of The Annex, which has 90,000 members worldwide. They found hundreds of links to child abuse material being shared daily and Garg was the sole admin of the site.

“There are hundreds of thousands of members of such sites on the dark web, but few are willing to commit to being a cast member, which involves devoting a lot of time without pay,” Priestley added.

The UK’s National Crime Agency said in a statement: “Officers arrested Garg at his flat in Lewisham in November 2022 as part of a coordinated operation with international partners, at a time when the site was open on his laptop with Garg logged into his admin account. “. .

Authorities found more than 7,000 inappropriate photos and videos and numerous medical journal articles he obtained as a psychiatrist. One of the journals was titled “A Study of Child Abuse in India”.

“Garg’s crimes are particularly appalling given his understanding of the psychological impact of child sexual abuse,” said Bethany Rayne, a specialist prosecutor.

UK authorities also arrested 34-year-old Matthew Smith from London last year in the same month that Garg was arrested for alleged child sexual abuse in India and recovered thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse from his devices.

Smith allegedly paid 65 lakh rupees to two teenagers in India over five years to sexually abuse boys and share photos. Authorities suspect he is part of a larger child pornography racket as they have unearthed thousands of images and videos of sexual abuse.

While living in India, Smith worked in orphanages and for NGOs, where he built a network of accomplices in pedophilia and kept in contact with them even after moving to the UK last year.

Prosecutors said Smith used to manipulate teenage boys in India and would teach them how to befriend minors, then send them videos and photos of sexual acts he wanted to perform and record.