Ex-paedophile group leader jailed

The former leader of the paedophile pressure group Pie has been jailed after becoming the first person to be convicted for making drawings of children being raped.

The prosecution, under the 2009 Coroners and Justice Act which incorporated sketches, was described as a landmark case by Scotland Yard.

Detectives found 3,000 harrowing drawings at Steven Freeman's home, where he held weekly meetings of his "paed friends" to view and trade child porn. The images were described at the Old Bailey as "vile and disgusting" and were amongst the worst seen by police.

Some 14,500 pictures and films were found on computer disks at the home and at the address of two of his paedophile ring. Detectives believe tens of thousands more were stored on encrypted computer hard-drives which they have been unable to gain access to.

Officers from the Child Abuse Command also found sick computer games where players tried to abuse as many children as possible. Three of the defendants had been leaders of Pie, the Paedophile Information Exchange, which was disbanded after members were jailed.

Freeman, previously known as Smith, 57, of Bellingham, south London, who had been the chairman of Pie, was given an indeterminate term for public protection.

He was given a minimum term of 30 months after he pleaded guilty to specimen charges of possessing indecent images, having prohibited drawings, distributing indecent images and failing to disclose the password for an encrypted computer.

John Morrison, 44, of Putney, south-west London, was jailed for 24 months after pleading guilty to having indecent images and failure to disclose a computer password. John Parratt, 63, of the same address, a former vice chairman of Pie, who was also known as Warren Middleton, was jailed for 12 months after being convicted of having indecent images.

Barry Cutler, 60, of Beckenham, Kent, pleaded guilty to three offences of having indecent images and failure to provide a password, and was jailed for 15 months. Leo Adamson, 49, of Vauxhall, south London, a former executive member of Pie, was found guilty of failure to disclose a computer password, and was jailed for a year at an earlier hearing.

Detective Inspector Paul Maddocks said: "I am delighted with these convictions which have seen five individuals who pose a significant threat to society convicted and held accountable for the most serious of crimes."