March 2022

Dark web Northampton paedophile Keith McFadden gets 30 years

Keith McFadden, aged 57, formerly of Talbot Road, Northampton, was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court for child sex offences.

He was convicted of 33 counts of sexual abuse, including rape and sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.

The 57-year-old was also convicted of further offences of making and sharing indecent images of children during his nine-day trial.

He had denied all the offences.

The jury was told the abuse took place over a 23-year period between 1996 and 2019 and involved six victims, all aged between seven and 15.

The convicted child predator was finally arrested by Northamptonshire Police detectives following an investigation of the dark web by the National Crime Agency.

Andrew Howarth, prosecuting, said McFadden had bragged about the offences and later read impact statements from McFadden’s victims.

The statement said the victim had tried to take his own life and had been on “antidepressants for most of my life because of what he did to me.”

Other victims described having their lives “turned upside down” by McFadden’s actions.

Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane said in sentencing: “There is no way of knowing whether you will engage with programmes, especially given that you continue to maintain your innocence.

“You pose a threat to young boys, as opposed to the general public.”

Keith McFadden was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with a minimum time to serve of 20 years.

 2022

Northampton man facing jail following 23-year campaign of child sexual abuse

A paedophile who used the so-called Dark Web to share indecent images of children he was sexually abusing is facing a lengthy jail term after being convicted at Northampton Crown Court.

Keith McFadden, of Abington, Northampton, was yesterday (Tuesday, January 25) convicted of 33 counts of sexual abuse, including rape and sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.

The 57-year-old was also convicted of further offences of making and sharing indecent images of children during his nine-day trial.

He had denied all the offences.

The jury was told the abuse took place over a 23-year period between 1996 and 2019 and involved six victims, all aged between seven and 15.

Prosecutors described how McFadden had groomed the victims’ families, embedding himself within their lives, making him appear invaluable to them.
But he then went on to isolate and sexually abuse his young victims, all of whom were boys.

The court heard how he took indecent photographs of them which were then distributed on the Dark Web, where they came to the attention of international law enforcement, including the US’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Jurors were told how he was arrested by detectives from Northamptonshire Police following the identification of victims seen in the indecent images.

Those very images had been sent into the National Crime Agency (NCA) for distribution to UK police forces for identification purposes.

Following his arrest, the victims were contacted by detectives and it was only then that they disclosed their abuse.

Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane remanded McFadden in custody ahead of his sentencing hearing at the same court on Thursday, March 10.