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Robin Hollyson, aged 31 from Bedfordshire, was one of seven men convicted in a harrowing case of child sexual abuse orchestrated by a paedophile ring operating across England. The group targeted vulnerable children, including a baby, a toddler, and a young child, between 2013 and 2014. Hollyson was filmed abusing the baby, an act that exemplified the 'terrifying depravity' described by Judge Julian Lambert at Bristol Crown Court.
The offenders, who lived at various addresses throughout England, went to extreme lengths to perpetrate their crimes, driving hundreds of miles for opportunities to rape or assault children. They groomed families to gain access, notably targeting a pregnant woman to abuse her newborn. The group streamed live attacks over the internet, encouraging each other and sharing advice on drugging young victims via online chat logs. This organised network treated children as commodities, passing them between members and using abuse footage as currency to obtain more material.
The investigation began in September 2014 when co-defendant Adam Toms called emergency services, leading to his arrest and confession of abusing a child under five. This prompted a National Crime Agency (NCA) probe that uncovered the full extent of the ring. Ian Glover, who led the NCA investigation, described it as 'by far the worst paedophile group I have ever investigated', highlighting how the men centred their 'depraved desires' without regard for the innocent victims.
Judge Lambert, in sentencing Hollyson to 24 years' imprisonment with an additional eight years on licence, condemned their actions as 'contrary to all nature and humanity'. He noted that the behaviour was 'the most grossly deviant behaviour imaginable' and provoked physical sickness among those who learned of it. All convicted men, including Hollyson, were placed on the sex offenders register for life. The case exposed the shocking online facilitation of child abuse, with the NCA sharing intelligence that protected over 21 additional children at risk and led to further convictions domestically and abroad.
Source: BBC News, reporting on Bristol Crown Court proceedings, 11 September 2015.Quote from Judge: 'In the worst nightmare... few can have imagined the terrifying depravity which you men admit.'NCA Statement: The crimes involved streaming and sharing abuse as a form of exchange among paedophiles.