David Mould

David Mould, a 68-year-old resident of Seaford in East Sussex, has been sentenced to 21 years in prison for a series of child sex offences committed abroad. Between April 2018 and May 2019, Mould travelled to the Philippines and Nepal, where he targeted vulnerable young boys in smaller cities and rural areas. He befriended local families, offering gifts and money to groom the children before sexually abusing and exploiting them, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Mould was an active participant and moderator on a dark web paedophile chat site under the username 'Globe Trotter'. The site facilitated the sharing of indecent images of children and provided message boards for users to discuss and recount their abuse experiences. Prosecutors revealed that Mould's online conversations demonstrated his deliberate planning of these trips, where he sought out isolated communities to carry out his offences. As a moderator, he offered advice to other paedophile sex tourists and encouraged them to commit similar international crimes.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) arrested Mould on 2 April 2020 following an investigation into his online activities. Searches of his home and work addresses uncovered a wealth of digital evidence, including chat logs saved on a hard drive. These logs showed Mould arranging meetings with another site user in Nepal, introducing him to boys Mould had previously abused. That user, identified as an American citizen, was subsequently arrested in March 2021 and is serving a 14-year prison sentence in Nepal for related sex offences.

From Mould's devices, authorities recovered over 100,000 indecent images of children, along with four manuals outlining techniques for abusing children and evading detection. Three boys in the Philippines are now receiving safeguarding support as a result of the investigation. Mould pleaded guilty to 24 offences primarily related to child sex abuse at Lewes Crown Court. On Friday, he was sentenced to 21 years' imprisonment with an extended licence period of seven years. Additionally, he has been banned from travelling to 22 countries and must sign the sex offenders' register.

This conviction marks Mould's second for child sex offences; he was previously convicted in 2000 for making indecent images of children, receiving a four-week prison sentence. The NCA and CPS highlighted the collaborative international effort that led to Mould's downfall, emphasising the dangers posed by online paedophile networks.