Cheshire paedophile who had 800,000 sex abuse images jailed
Nathan Bake ran a website which was used by other paedophiles across the world
Last updated 14th Feb 2024
A Cheshire paedophile who was second in command on a dark website used by paedophiles across the world has been jailed for 16 years
Nathan Bake, 28, from Runcorn had over 800,000 pictures and videos of child sex abuse.
During the day, Bake worked as a car mechanic. But as soon as he got home, he helped run ‘The Annex’ – a site dedicated to child sex abuse and exploitation.
During a ten-week period in 2022 – Bake posted 600 times - many with links to child abuse.
He encouraged others to use the site, answered questions from users about abuse, and gave advice on how to avoid being caught.
The Annex, which is no longer active, had around 90,000 global members who used it to share and discuss some of the most extreme kinds of abuse material, involving ‘hurtcore’ and the sexual abuse of babies and toddlers.
As the head moderator, Bake was second in command of the entire site, which was run by an American man, who was sentenced to life in prison in the US in January.
Bake was responsible for managing around 30 staff members, and worked with them to enforce the site’s rules and ensure it continued to run smoothly.
When he was arrested, officers found Bake was involved in running another two sites linked to child sex abuse - he also had what’s been called a paedophile manual – 576 pages on grooming and abuse.
Bake pleaded guilty to all 12 charges against him and has been sentenced today at Chester Crown Court.
'The site was one of the biggest of its kind'
Daniel Waywell from the National Crime Agency told us:
"The website itself, at the time probably was one of the biggest on the dark web for this kind of abuse material.
"The purpose of the website solely was to facilitate sharing and discussion of all types of child abuse material, including the most extreme.
"It was very sophisticated, there were 90,000 users in total and of that, there was about 30, staff members, ranging from the CEO down to lower administration.
"They would have staff meetings and discuss promotions and things like that, so it was very organised."