Case 115
Operation Cathedral
*** Warning: This case involves a child victim ***
In the mid-1990s, police caught wind of an online paedophile ring known as The Orchid Club, in which members were using chat rooms to create and trade child exploitation material. Several American men were arrested, but detectives soon discovered The Orchid Club was just the tip of the iceberg.
A much larger and more prolific online paedophile ring soon emerged, known as The Wonderland Club. A global investigation titled Operation Cathedral was launched as police raced against the clock to identify the Wonderland Club members and protect their victims from further exploitation.
CREDITS
EPISODE:
Research & writing – Milly Raso
Editing – Elsha McGill
Narration – Anonymous Host
MUSIC:
‘Flatline intro’ and ‘Come play with me’ intro and outro – www.dl-sounds.com
Audio production – Mike Migas
Scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn
OTHER:
Logo and website design – Paulina Szymanska
RESOURCES
REPORTS:
International police operations against online child pornography – Australian Government
VIDEOS:
Operation Cathedral – BBC Panorama
ARTICLES:
Girl raped to order on the internet – The Telegraph
This club had its own chairman and treasurer. Its business was child abuse – The Guardian
Fear of jail turned paedophile Gary Salt into ‘supergrass’ – Manchester Evening News
16 indicted on charges of internet pornography – New York Times
Paedophiles’ vast ‘lending library’ – BBC News
Wickedness of Wonderland – BBC News
How police smashed child porn club – CNN World
International team of police raids ‘club’ – Portland Press Herald
Child porn gang face jail – CNN World
Net porn trader denies abuse – BBC News
Internet paedophiles are jailed – Daily Mail
Child pornographers sentenced – BBC News
Wonderland paedophiles are sentenced – ZDNet
Wonderland sentences a ‘joke’ – BBC News
Wonderland club with a sick agenda – The Herald
Tackling online child pornography – BBC News
Internet child sex perverts escape justice – The Telegraph
Renewed hunt for Wonderland victims – BBC News
Pedophile Gavin Smith sentenced for internet torture fantasy – BBC News
Pervert who ran infamous ‘wonderland’ child porn network caught looking at sick images in Old Trafford library – Manchester Evening News
Paedophile used library to download child abuse images – BBC News
Jail for pervert caught with child porn library of 250,000 sick images – Manchester Evening News
130 arrested over internet child porn – The Telegraph
ARCHIVED ARTICLES:
Deviate: Live molestation on Internet magnifies trauma – The Sunday Record: Dec 1998
Believe children, not statistics – Leader-Telegram: Feb 1997
Greenfield porn figure found guilty – The Californian: Nov 1996
Protecting kids from pornographers – The Star Press: Dec 1996
City man sentenced for role in porn ring – The Daily Oklahoman: Feb 1998
How terrestrial cops invaded the crime zone of cyberspace – The Age: Sep 1998
Dismay at paedophile sentences – The Guardian: Feb 2001
The Faceless danger on the Internet – The Age: Sept 1998