The Orchid Club and the global search for child predators | Forensic Files

here's a question how did you sleep last night did you spend the night tossing and
turning after listening to case file or maybe stress pain or discomfort is keeping you up if so there might be time
for a new mattress the purple mattress will probably feel different than anything you've ever
experienced because it uses a brand new material that was developed by an actual
rocket scientist it's not like the memory foam you might be used to the purple material feels very unique
because it's both firm and soft at the same time so it keeps everything supported while still feeling really
comfortable plus it's breathable so it sleeps cool purple has a 100 night risk free trial if you're not fully satisfied
you can return your mattress for a full refund mattresses are backed by a 10-year warranty enter there's free
shipping and two returns you're going to love purple and right now case file listeners will get a free purple pillow
with the purchase of a mattress that's in addition to the great free gifts they're offering site-wide just text the
case file one word no space to wait for triple-eight the only way to get this free pillow is to text the case file to
84 Triple Eight that's CA se file2 wait 4 8 8 8 message and data rates may apply
our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at anytime you need support please contact
your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support please see the show notes for this
episode on your app or on our website this episode features serious and often distressing subject matter pertaining to
the sexual abuse of children and the production of child exploitation material there will not be suitable for
all listeners the names of several witnesses have been changed schoolgirls Allyson and Mary had been best friends
for years spending most of their time together at school soccer practice and sleepovers the pair lived in Greenfield
a small California in town located within Monterey County approximately thirty miles inland from the Central
Coast with a population of just over seven thousand residents it was a relatively close-knit safe community
where many of the town's people knew and trusted one another Mary lived in a modest one-story farmhouse situated on a
ranch amongst green fields rolling hillsides her best friend Allison spent the night there often enjoying the
sprawling rural space that provided a contrast to her suburban home Mary's father 36 year-old Ronald Riva was an
unemployed truck driver and former prison officer he had plenty of spare time to supervise his four young
children and to their friends joining them as they played together despite all the fun to be had Allison would
occasionally return home from her visits to Mary Rivas house moody grumpy and overtired
in one instance her mother Cheryl asked what was wrong and warned Alison she would no longer be allowed to go to
Mary's house if she continued to come home in an irritable mood Alison simply replied it has nothing to
do with Mary at around 4 p.m. on April 8 1996 Cheryl was watering the front lawn
at her home when she heard the phone ring she rushed inside to answer it discovering mary's mother leah was on
the other line as the woman's only connection to one another was through their children
Cheryl knew the call must have something to do with her daughter 10 year-old Alison Leah revealed that she had some
extremely difficult news to deliver regarding her husband she explained Ron was arrested for child molestation
[Music] [Music] on the last weekend of March 1996 meri Riva hosted a slumber party at her house
for a group of her friends that her father's suggestion her best friend Allison was in attendance as were
sisters eight-year-old Emily into six-year-old Melissa at the conclusion of the party Ronald raver invited the
girls to spend a second night Emily and Melissa's mother declined the offer wanting to spend some time with her
children the next day whilst preparing for a trip to the beach Melissa suddenly blurted
out to her mother that during the sleepover Ronald Riva had touched her inappropriately Melissa's admission
prompted her older sister to divulge that she too had been molested by Riva however her abuse extended beyond the
night of the sleepover it had been a year-long ordeal that Reaver had coerced Emily to remain silent about their
mother was horrified she regarded the Reavers as a nice church-going family and she trusted Ronald or Eva
wholeheartedly permitting him to take her daughter's on various outings and leaving them alone in his care as he
taught them how to play computer games Emily told her mother I thought Ron was my friend but he lied
knowing her young daughters would never make up such a serious story she reported the allegations to the police
Ronald Arava who had a no prior criminal record of child molestation was placed under arrest his wife Leah was left with
the difficult task of phoning the parents of the other children who had attended the slumber party to inform
them of her husband's actions in the call to Alison's mother Cheryl Leia warned you need to talk to your daughter
and to see if she's being a victim Cheryl was in shock and paused to gather her thoughts
given the closer into loving relationship she had with her daughter she was certain Alison would have
confided in her if anything untoward had happened at the sleepover with great care she gently questioned Alison about
Ronald rivas behavior Alison crossed her arms and resolutely denied having been harmed before
shutting herself away in her bedroom this strong reaction raised Cheryl's concerns and she entered Alison's
bedroom finding the 10 year-old code up on her bed in the fetal position it was in that moment
Cheryl knew something was seriously wrong what followed was the most difficult 45 minutes of Cheryl's life as
Alison described her distressing ordeal at the hands of Ronald Reba Riva had been grooming Alison's since she was
eight years old beginning with fleeting moments of inappropriate touching before escalating into severe acts of
abuse the next day Cheryl and her husband escorted Alison to the police station to report their daughter's abuse
as a third survivor had now come forward the case was escalated to the Monterey County Sheriff's Department who began an
immediate investigation starting with interviewing all the children who attended the slumber party at the Reaver
house they soon learnt that Alison's ordeal had been vastly different to Emily and
Melissa's as she slept in her friend Mary's bedroom Alison was awoken by Reva who led her
into his study where another man was waiting the two men proceeded to assault Alison in front of a computer
documenting the abuse with a digital camera [Music] detectives conducted a search of Ronald
Rivest house where they seized his digital camera and computer from the study the Federal Bureau of
Investigation assisted the Monterey County Sheriff's Department to uncover the computers data discovering Riva had
amassed thousands of pornographic images of children online chatroom transcripts
were also found of discussions held within global online communication tool Internet Relay Chat better known as IRC
IRC hosted thousands of chat rooms dedicated to a variety of topics and it was here that Ronald Riva began
interacting with like-minded pedophiles these interactions mostly occurred within to chat rooms that members
occasionally communicated directly through email in early 1996 Riva created a private invitation-only chat room
titled orchid club wherein members electronically distributed illicit images of children to one another under
his leadership the only way to join orchid club was to be recommended by an established member with the group then
voting to determine whether the newcomer was allowed to join if accepted they would be given the password to enter
orchid clubs private chat room eventually orchid club grew to include sixteen members who interacted with one
another under user names like two tough L dude poe bear and Cessna in an effort to distance themselves from their real
old identities Reba's computer was programmed to save text files of all the depraved conversations that occurred
whenever he was online allowing investigators to implicate other orchid club members in an effort to lessen his
eventual punishment ronald Arriva agreed to assist detectives in identifying the
other members of his online pedophile ring he logged into orchid club in the presence of law enforcement agents
giving them all covert access to the sinister group it was unlike anything investigators had ever seen many members
not only viewed and exchanged illicit material but also took part in assembling and producing the content
themselves sometimes they met in real life to film one another carrying out their crimes at least eight children
were abused in direct connection with the club although orchid club members employed two usernames to hide their
real identities every computer that connected to the chatroom did so via the Internet this didn't afford complete
anonymity as every time a web connection is established a unique string of letters and numbers is formed to link a
user to their online activity this code is known as an IP address into details that uses Internet service provider city
and state but not their residential address or geographical location when federal agents obtained the IP addresses
from orchid clubs 16 members they discovered the individuals were spread across the country and even overseas
they then subpoenaed the customer records from the various Internet service providers are listed in each
user's IP address to obtain the name and address of each suspect Ronald Rivas accomplished during the
slumber party assault of ten-year-old Allison was identified as another Californian man 54 year old Santa Rosa
trova Milton Lee Myers Myers had two previous convictions for child molestation from 1971 for which he
served only 60 days in prison during the orchid Club investigation it was discovered that Myers hadn't been
properly registered as a sex offender and to therefore the sinner Rosa Community was not aware of the threat he
presented to children a search of Maya's residence revealed he was in possession
of approximately 20 pornographic images of children aged between 2 and 12 taken by him at or near his home in an effort
to identify those featured in the images police placed two notices in the local papers reaching out to parents whose
children had contact with Myers a videotape obtained from his home also captured footage of a meeting between
himself and four American members of orchid club in which the men casually spoke about their crimes as police
initiated arrests several orchid club members double-crossed their collaborators but fully cooperating with
authorities in exchange for leniency eventually all 16 members were formally identified and arrested 11 were from the
American states of California Oklahoma Washington Kansas Illinois Minnesota Michigan Mississippi and Texas while the
remaining three were from Canada Finland and Australia collectively the men were
found to be in possession of a total of 50,000 indecent images of children and all were charged with conspiracy to
possess and distribute child pornography transcripts of online conversations within the walk at a club revealed that
days before the slumber party held at Ronald Reba's home members were expressing their excitement over what
they refer to as a pedo party that weekend Reverend Myers live broadcasted Allison's assault to several
orchid club members who were complicit in the attack by requesting certain acts be performed following this discovery
six of the men including Reverend Myers were additionally charged with the joining were abetting in the sexual
exploitation of a minor although the internet had been used to exchange illicit content in the past authorities
declared this the first case they were aware of where the internet had been used for the real time molestation of a
minor assistant US attorney Tony West called it a very serious and a very tragic case that Illustrated how new
technology could be used to exploit others in total five victims came forward alleging to have been abused by
Ronald Riva between 1991 and to 1993 Riva faced 18 counts for various state and federal crimes with the possibility
of a life in prison in return for a 30-year prison sentence he agreed to plead guilty to his federal charges of
conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a minor conspiracy to traffic in child pornography and sending and
receiving pornographic images of children over the Internet yet he chose to plead not guilty for state charges
relating to child molestation Grievous accomplice Milton Meyers faced five counts of molestation to which he pled
guilty both men remained silent during court proceedings as their young survivors
bravely took the stand Allison chose to testify because she had learned not to blame herself for the
abuse she endured and wanted to stand up for other children who were unable to speak for themselves
she appeared wise beyond her years before the court maintaining poiice as she identified herself in the explicit
images taken by reverend meyers and shared with in orchid club poignant victim impact statements revealed the
true suffering the men had caused with Alison's torment manifesting in night terrors to support her daughter at home
Cheryl quit her job teaching having the family's income and leaving them overwhelmed with unpaid bills Alison's
19 year old brother had since fallen a semester behind in college and struggled to find the motivation to return her
state employee father used 1400 hours of vacation and sick leave to attend court
appearances therapy sessions and to stay home with his daughter inevitably requesting a transfer so the family
could start fresh in another town for his stay defenses Ronald Riva was found guilty and ordered to serve an
additional 125 years in prison Judge Robert moody thanked the jury for quote taking an unpleasant and difficult
journey into a side of a life I'm sure you never wanted to see we all know this is a journey you never wanted to make
but somebody had to do it and you did it well survivors families thank to the efforts of prosecutors saying the
verdict too gave them their lives back Milton Myers attorney attempted to diminish his clients accountability
characterizing him as an impaired person who was not completely responsible for being the person who he is
he even boldly remarked that his client could have done a lot of things that were far worse under California's three
strikes law offenders who had previously been convicted of two or more serious felonies faced the significant increase
in their subsequent prison term the law rained to prevent such offenders from receiving anything
than a life sentence as this was Myers third offense and therefore third strike he was sentenced to over 300 years in
prison when Greenfield sisters Emily and Melissa later saw Ronald Reva chained and shackled on television their mother
asked the young girls if they knew why he had gone to jail they responded yes because we put him there over the
following years trials were held throughout the United States for the remaining American members of the orchid
club and Alison and her family traveled across the country to testify at each the misconception that abused the
children only came from dysfunctional unattentive families infuriated her mother Cheryl who expressed that
obedient well loved and cared for children were also a target for predators she refused to accept any
apologies from the accused men saying they're all sorry when they're caught these are not trading cards these are
real children the prison sentences imposed on the remaining members of orchid Club ranged from 12 months to
several years some were ordered to pay restitution fees to survivors with one member forced to pay close to $60,000 to
Alison which her family used to help cover the associated costs for counseling and medical care during one
trial judge Timmy Leonard stated the damage done to win esand young children is something that can't be repaired when
a child is harmed the family is harmed Sharyl described her daughter Alison as her hero gifting her with a pet horse to
help her recover from the trauma of her ordeal and overcome her psychologically fragile they nevertheless the
ramifications of that March night in 1996 would continue to haunt the family forever
Cheryl stated it's still unfathomable to me that there are pictures of my child and the videos of my child that were
trafficked and there's no stopping it once it's out there they were given varying sentences for the participation
and direction of that night when she was molested online but her sentence is a life sentence our child is going to deal
with this as a part of her history forever following the arrests and convictions the orchid club chat room
went silent although their efforts to dismantle Ronald Rivas self-made pedophile ring were a success American
investigators remained determined to apprehend those others responsible for producing the heinous content shared
within as they examined the remnants of the club investigators noticed the many of its members had also accessed another
private IRC channel which was still active a chat room titled Wonderland calculated efforts had been made to
prevent unwelcome two users from accidentally stumbling across this chat room Wonderland's title began with a
hash sign and featured a zero in place of the letter O furthermore access was restricted by passwords and security
checks as with the Walker Club investigators understood that the only way for them to gain entry into
Wonderland was to apprehend a member who would be willing to provide them with a
key in exchange for leniency in criminal prosecution one active Wonderland user named sheepy
had communicated frequently with convicted child molester Ronald Riva via email sent from a uk-based the web
address US authorities notified their British counterparts who used the sheepies IP address to trace the user to
a residential property in Hastings a resort town on England's Sussex coast the house Sat office at a school and was
occupied by 31 year old computer consultant Ian Bulldog to determine if all dock was sheepy or an innocent user
who accessed the same computer as the unidentified pedophile detectives put him under surveillance they soon learned
Bulldog rarely left the house except to work the night shift at the Oxford University Press offices he didn't
associate with anybody else instead spending the majority of his spare time at home alone logging onto the internet
for hours each day at the exact time sheepy was active online as one detective remarked he had no other life
in October 1997 police raided Bulldogs home and seized his computers finding what they described as a massive library
of child pornography consisting of 42,000 images the enormous collection was four times larger than anything
police computer forensics expert Nick Webber had ever seen before he discovered that in the six days prior to
Bulldogs arrest the men had distributed just over 1600 images to 17 other Internet users according to Weber there
was a distribution on an absolutely massive scale computer forensics experts examined
Bulldogs computer to gain entry to wonderland an extensive safeguards employed by the chatroom community
prevented their access although it was not unusual for online predators to use sophisticated defense tactics to prevent
police from accessing elisa material wonderland operated on a technological level like a noir the chatroom was
protected by an artificial person known as a bot who ensured strangers could not
enter there were also seven separate security checks to pass through and to electronic gatekeepers known as Alice
and Sandra a code originally developed by the Soviet Union's security agency the KGB encrypted all communications
within after five months of examining Bulldogs computer experts managed to uncover one key document associated with
wonderland titled basic guidelines the document offered tips to readers on how to evade detection and quote confused
the hell out of the police that also established the rules of Wonderland club in which members going by the usernames
that I hand Bravin 1 & 2 jazz were referenced as being responsible for vetting new members sometimes meeting
them in real life to screen them in person before the final decision was put to a group of vote it was clear to
investigators that these three users held a leadership position in Wonderland and exerted considerable power over
others within the community as it seemed likely they would have a greater insight
into the true identities of members it became paramount for the police to identify who why hand Raven 1 & 2 jazz
were in the real world meanwhile in the Greater Manchester town of Stockport local mother Barbara
received a shocking phone call from her nine-year-old daughter Lucy Lucy was at the home of one of her friends and
called her mother to inform her that she would not be coming home as she wanted to stay with her friend's father Gary
salt the 36 year old taxi driver and former Royal Air Force engineer had befriended Lucy through his daughter and
often invited the young girl over for dinner and sleepovers following the concerning call from her daughter
Barbara ordered salt to bring Lucy home threatening to call the police if he didn't comply salt did as he was told
and - the next day the nine-year-old told her mother the truth about what was really going on whenever she visited her
friend's house over a period of several months Gary salt had groomed to Lucy and
once he had earned her trust he began taking indecent images of her in his bedroom
Barbara alerted Manchester Police and the Gary salt was promptly arrested with forensic computer experts uncovering
over 20,000 pornographic images of children on his computer salt featured in some of the imagery himself having
cowardly blurred his own face whilst leaving his victims clearly visible salt had also fashioned a noose that he kept
on standby should he ever be caught for his crimes Salt's arrest turned out to be an
unexpected breakthrough for British police as his electronic trail led to deep into wonderland secret chat room
where he operated under the username jazz one of the club's three leaders in charge of vetting newcomers facing life
in prison for his crimes Sault agreed to grant police access to Wonderland in return for a reduced
sentence without his assistance the Central Intelligence Agency estimated it would have taken 400 officers 44 years
to unravel the layers of encrypted information required to gain access to the entire club sult subsequently pled
guilty to multiple counts of rape indecent assault and gross indecency and was sentenced to 12 years in prison
upon entering Wonderland that soon became evident that local police did not have the adequate knowledge or power
required for an investigation of this magnitude two computer consultants from specialist companies were therefore
recruited to work on the case full-time it was their job to sift through Wonderland's extensive data and defeat
the digital security specifically designed to keep them out by the time authorities uncovered Wonderland they
believed the club had been in operation for at least five years priding itself on containing the most dedicated and
trustworthy pedophiles Wunderland had an exorbitant entry fee of 10,000 new or original indecent images of children
like orchid club members interacted anonymously under user names such as satan guess who me again smirk and
caesar the chatroom was active 24 hours a day with dozens of users conversing back and forth boss / trading a vast
library of child exploitation material detective Superintendent John stewartson told BBC television program panorama
quote people don't realize that these images were not just children undressed romping about on a beach these images
were absolutely hideous on some occasions the abuse these children suffered was the worst kind of possible
abuse you can imagine the highest status Wunderland members documented their abuse of children and made that content
available to others Gary salt was one such member he produced and liberally shared his own illicit content whilst
earning additional recognition from the club for having been abused as a child himself as investigators unraveled
assaults influence they discovered he styled himself as Wonderland's chairman into his head of its British arm he was
also known to invite other pedophiles to his Stockport home to exchange illegal images and to meet the children he
abused in person detective Superintendent John stewartson quote some of them traveled to salts home
address and were pictured sitting on his bed with the children not in indecent poses but just so that they could get a
buzz saying that they've met the stars of the movie that's the sort of mentality of the
people we're dealing with in April 1998 the investigation into Wonderland was handed to organized crime experts the
British National Crime Squad from their London headquarters the 1500 member team
launched a large-scale police inquiry named Operation Cathedral to track down Wonderland's elusive
members using Gary salts computer they were able to covertly observe the chatroom
with computer forensics expert Nick Webber explaining to BBC television programme panoramas we worked out a
technique where we could actually watch them live on the Internet so we were sitting very quietly and watching them
coming and going they were in effect coming past us but couldn't see us we were able to backtrack and find out who
they really were it wasn't without risk news of Gary salts arrest had reached wonderland and
as a result its members were acting more cautiously than usual investigators understood they had to
tread very carefully [Music] with operation Cathedral underway investigators continued to reach out to
Internet service providers to collect the names and addresses of customers with IP addresses linked to the club
upon obtaining this information detectives dispersed across the country to conduct a mass surveillance of 13
addresses where Wunderland members were suspected to operate it was imperative they prove exactly who at each address
was utilizing a computer at the precise time the internet was being used to access the site in some cases the
computer was situated in a share house university or library making the process of identifying the correct suspect far
more complicated by May 1998 operation Cathedral was closing in on one Wunderland member who operated under the
username spanked daddy this uses online presence was easier to monitor than others as they were constantly active
within the chat room engaging in long depraved conversations with Co members the user was traced to a terrorist house
in a back street of Dartford Kent a town 18 miles southeast of London it was the
home of 24 year-old computer technician Gavin Sega's detectives monitored seekest movements following him to DAR
feeds the local Sea Cadets headquarters a youth organization specializing in waterborne activities where they
discovered their suspected pedophile was a volunteer youth leader who was in contact with 25 children aged between 10
and 18 years old investigators soon learned that Seger's was particularly disturbed as he often expressed he had
fantasies about abducting raping torturing and killing children the National Crime Squad faced the dilemma
seekers online behavior indicated he was a serious threat to children but arresting him immediately would risk
alerting other Wunderland men to operation cathedrals existence as they considered their next step it was
decided that seekers would be placed under strict surveillance whenever he conducted his volunteer work ensuring he
didn't leave with any children if seekers was ever alone with one or two minors at a time
investigators were instructed to place him under arrest by June 1998 two months into operation Cathedral National Crime
Squad detectives had identified over 200 unique persons from 33 nations had interacted in Wunderland making it the
largest global Internet pedophile ring to date detective Superintendent John stewartson explained we could have
adopted the attitude that we would deal with people in this country and we could
have done it very quickly and it would have all been done and dusted sooner than it was but in truth that would not
have been the way to go forward because basically every one of those images represented a disaster to a family
somewhere and we decided we would go forward by getting as many countries as we could on board with us so that we
could maximize our evidence the monumental investigation posed many challenges the sharing of sensitive
criminal intelligence network operation and investigative leads between law enforcement agencies throughout the
world required meticulous planning lost adapting to the differing police powers resources and knowledge of each nation
information was relayed on a strict 2 need-to-know basis and detectives were instructed not to type the word
wonderland into any internet search engine out of fear it would somehow expose their undercover activities to
club members by July a parallel police inquiry titled Operation Cheshire cat was established in the United States for
the purpose of pursuing American Wonderland members u.s. customs computer forensics expert Jim Ferrell was
assigned to the task of examining the massive data handed over from British police which included a four-page list
of usernames email addresses and two possible US locations of suspects as special agents tracked each suspect
down they discovered most hid their depravity behind stable marriages long-term relationships respected
families and successful careers one Wonderland member was a professor at the University of Connecticut another was a
retired US Air Force pilot whilst others were law and medical students by the end
of August to 1998 after months of round-the-clock online surveillance and covert real-world stakeouts
investigators had built a clearer picture of Wonderland's members and to the potential danger they posed risk
assessments were constantly performed to determine whether the need to gather evidence was eclipsing the safety of
children it was agreed that undercover operations would immediately cease and suspects be apprehended if any posed a
threat to a minor but when exactly to act remained a point of contention meanwhile Wunderland users were becoming
suspicious with some secretly encoding their illicit images in an effort to hide them they had also become extremely
active in providing daily updates to one another on any police investigations that might be honing in on their group
international police agency Interpol held an urgent meeting in France where law enforcement agencies from around the
world convened and concluded that it was time to act suspects were becoming more
vigilant and to the longer they waited the greater the risk of jeopardizing the entire operation they decided it was
time to start making large-scale arrests in an effort to preserve evidence and prevent Wunderland members from one
country warning the others at exactly 4:00 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time on September 2 1998 an estimated 1500
police and Child Protection officers in 12 countries simultaneously raided the homes of over 100 suspected Wunderland
men here's some good news for Case Files Australian listeners made-to-measure menswear company Indo Chino is launching
an online service in Australia this means prices listed and paid for in Australian dollars faster better
shipping and a dedicated Australian customer service line Indo Chino makes suits and shirts tailored to your exact
measurements to create the best fitting most comfortable clothes there's a wide selection of high-quality fabrics and
colors to choose from and two customers can personalize smaller details as well like the lining pockets and buttons I
recently bought a shirt from Indochina and too loved how easy the process was endowed chinos website is easy to
navigate with a nice clean design enter check out a step by step video guide demonstrates how to measure for a
perfect fit that's the best setup i've seen for ordering clothes online this week case file listeners can get any
premium Indo Chino suit for just five hundred and sixty-nine Australian dollars and Indo Chino calm when
entering case file at checkout plus shipping is free that's Indo Chino calm iein do c-h-i n o
dot-com promo code case file for any premium suit for just five hundred and sixty nine Australian dollars and free
shipping it's an incredible deal for a premium made-to-measure suit for listeners who
love playing games on their smart phone but also want to be able to play while they're offline best fiends could be the
solution a mobile puzzle game that has more than 90 million downloads globally best fiends allows users to solve
thousands of puzzles and collect characters even when they don't have internet access best fiends is made for
adults but kids can play too so the whole family can join in the fun an entertaining storyline unfolds
alongside the puzzles and - the game is updated monthly best fiends kept me entertained on a recent flight because
of the offline feature I could play the game in the sky as well as in the airport which was great I'm enjoying
progressing through the game as the puzzles get more and more challenging Case Files producer Mike Magus is also
hooked on best fiends he loves getting a few levels in while taking breaks from production work his favorite features
include the way the puzzles become more challenging with each a level and how there are cool bonuses to discover along
the way solve thousands of fun puzzles and collect tons of cute characters in this mobile game that's been rated 5
stars on both the Apple App Store and Google Play download free on the Apple App Store or Google Play
that's friends without the are best fiends female criminals is a weekly podcast original podcast that
investigates the lives of some of the world's most notorious female felons as well as the stories behind their crimes
the podcast also examines the psychology and motivations of the women they profile taking listeners beyond the
headlines one of the episodes currently available for download focuses on Leona Helmsley the businesswoman who was
dubbed the queen of mean Helmsley rose to the top of the New York City real estate scene but was eventually put on
trial for fraud and tax evasion another episode tells the story of Patty Hearst the heiress who was famously
kidnapped by American domestic terrorists the Symbionese Liberation Army and then helped them rob a bank her
experience would go on to become one of the most well known cases of Stockholm Syndrome in history
you can hear these episodes into many more on female criminals search for and subscribe to female criminals on Spotify
or wherever you listen to podcasts and please don't forget to rate and review you
the Wunderland raids needed to be conducted at the exact same time across the world otherwise a few seconds was
all it took for club and then there's the type of warning to the chatroom enabling their co-conspirators the
opportunity to swiftly destroy evidence of their crimes working together to the exact second authorities in the United
Kingdom Australia Austria Belgium Finland France Germany Italy Norway Portugal Sweden and to the United States
kicked down doors and storms through homes efficiently placing over 100 suspects under arrest while the vast
majority of Wonderland's members were men some women were also involved at dawn police closed in on a small German
Village where Wonderland to user gronke lived a quiet life with his girlfriend he was oblivious to the fact that police
knew about his online activities later telling bbc's panorama it hit me like lightning I was suddenly dragged back
into the real world of course I had always been worried about it being illegal and completely immoral but my
obsession got the better of me the last thing on my mind was arrest I never expected to find the police on my
doorstep in the country's West a key Wonderland member known as Ultima was taken into
custody at a government guest house near the Riverside city of Bonn Ultima was part of the committee that ran
Wonderland but in real life he was a senior civil servant it was the middle of the night in the United States when
the raid commenced one of the dozens of addresses targeted was the North Carolina flat linked to Wonderland user
Amy in reality amy was thirty one-year-old medical student William Rosa who lived with his unsuspecting
girlfriend by day Rosa was studying to become a doctor at Chapel Hill College with his training including a stint in a
children's hospital unit by night he spent hours online secretly downloading images of child abuse amassing a
collection of 70,000 images he operated in Wonderland under a female user named knowing that may all members would trade
more generously if they thought he was a woman over 800 miles away in st. Charles
Missouri the trailer belonging to Wonderland member Bart was also raided he enjoyed a high status within the club
for being a Content producer with other users acknowledging him straight away whenever he appeared online but turned
out to be 34 year-old Scott allymeier who lived alongside several families and worked in a nearby store a Lamaze
trailer resembled a prison some of the doors were four inches thick and he had built an inner sanctum out of plywood
police found weapons and explosives as well as a homemade video documenting his crimes girl's underwear was strewn about
with additional pairs been under stuffed in plastic bags and hidden in the trailers ductwork
Scot wasn't the only LMAO family member in Wonderland his 60 year old father fred allymeier also participated in the
club at 5:00 a.m. in england eight suspects were arrested and had their computers seized with a seven and a half
tonne lorry required to transport all the equipment back to the National Crime Squad headquarters following the bust
detective Superintendent John stewartson announced the content would absolutely turn the stomach of any right minded
person it is disgusting stuff people who engage themselves in this kind of depraved activity have felt relatively
secure up until now in the knowledge that the Internet is virtually unpoliced this coordinated action around the world
has demonstrated that that is no longer the case the for operation cathedral swooped on wonderland the largest ever
seizure of online child pornography was 7000 separate images after examining over 100 Wunderland members computers
police uncovered a staggering 750,000 images of child abuse along with 1,800 video clips featuring some of the most
degrading footage they had ever witnessed one Italian man owned one hundred and eighty thousand images alone
as some of the computer hardware was so highly protected and impossible to decode experts estimated the true number
of illicit images amassed by the group might have been upwards of two million officers given the difficult task of
viewing the material broke down in tears Detective Chief Inspector Alex would have told a bbc's panorama quote
certainly one series that sticks in my mind is a series that was labeled Colby Colby would appear to be a child of no
more than a year old and the initial images are of a young toddler very blond haired lad walking in a hallway in
nappies that image goes through some twenty or thirty slides and ends up with the most horrific abuse of a child
certainly like the rest of the team I guess that one image probably stays with you and that for me would be the most
horrible that I saw some of the encryption used by wonderland members were so advanced that even the world's
leading code-breaking experts were unable to crack it the computer of 40 year-old UK based computer salesman
Stephen Ellis was sent to government intelligence agencies in the United States where experts ran code breaking
programs on his system for a month with no success Ellis had ended his own life just days after his first court
appearance for his involvement with Wonderland if he was still alive he would never have faced the trial as
investigators were unable to obtain the evidence required to use against him Stephen Ellis was one of seven
Wonderland members who took their lives following their arrest it took years for
authorities to intercept preserve analyze and prepare all available evidence before taking Wonderland
members to trial many of whom were granted bail throughout this process after a two-year effort in February 2001
the seven remaining uk-based the members pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute indecent images of children
the accused will mostly computer consultants technicians and taxi drivers at the forefront was 31 year old Ian
Bulldog whose association with convicted orchid club a child molester Ronald areva led to the complete downfall of
Wonderland along with his closest cohort 29 year old to youth volunteer Gavin seekers regarded as one of the club's
more dangerous members 30 year old unemployed to me and David Hinds spoke publicly about his involvement in
Wonderland telling bbc's panorama that he had found child pornography online within 24 hours of gaining access to the
Internet he showed no remorse for his crimes saying it was great to find a like-minded people who shared his
interest in pedophilia he explained quote we didn't see it as abuse we just saw it as some members being in
relationships with children the net draws you win it sucks you in I had people I could talk to I had people I
could trade images with I never had so many friends before 46 year old Frederick Stephens had only been
involved in Wunderland for six months but had already amassed close to 9,000 images and over 600 videos within that
short time frame despite having a young family he made no effort to protect the obscene content on his computer with a
password or encryption in contrast 25 year old Andrew Barlow had configured his computer in such a highly secretive
manner that authorities were only able to retrieve 200 obscene images from what they believed to be a much larger
collection thirty one-year-old Hamer Darlie maintained that ninety percent of the
thirteen thousand pornographic images of children found on his computer were quote friendly harmless stuff thirty
six-year-old Antony Skinner was one of the offenders who visited Gary salts Stockport home to meet the children salt
abused in his videos Skinner emailed photos of his encounters to Wonderland members as a twisted memento
in defense of his actions Skinner's lawyer stated the internet sucks you in and becomes an obsession it
becomes your life it is a dichotomy of a repulsion and attraction fantasy and reality On February 13 2001 the seven
guilty men appeared together at Kingston upon Thames Crown Court to receive their
sentencing prosecutor David Perry detailed the defendants secret and secure digital underworld telling the
court each of them was involved in the distribution of indecent material on the Internet throughout the world dean
decent material depicted children involved in sexual acts with adults and also with other children all of the
children involved were under the age of 16 and in one case the child was only three months each defendant had a huge
quantity of indecent images stored in the hard drives of their computers and on compact discs it was a vast
international lending library whose members swapped a vast quantity of paedophile images
Judge Kenneth McCray addressed the defendants who stood passively in the dark telling them you directly or
indirectly exploited the most vulnerable in our society children represent the future they should be cared for and
protected you have betrayed that principle the use and abuse of children for your own gratification has horrified
me you have used your computer skills to do this the photographic records a proof
of your perversity according to their counsel the defendants were suffering from a classic pattern of pedophilia
where abuse was perceived as affection and had simply pandered to their basic sexual interests judge McRae Dean to
these claims to be nonsense and was equally critical of Anthony Skinner's assertion that he was only recruited
into the ring for his encryption skills telling him that he was like so many others still in denial under British law
at the time the maximum sentence that could be imposed for such offences was just three years but judge McRae had to
give credit to the offenders for pleading guilty as such for their participation in the world's largest the
known online pedophile ring the defendants were handed prison sentences ranging from 12 to 30 months they were
ordered to serve at least half their allotted term and remain on licence for the remainder which meant they would be
released back into the community under certain conditions including the forfeiture of their computer equipment
five of the men were placed on the sex offenders registry for seven years while Liam bull doc and David Hinds were the
only two placed on the registry for life the Wunderland trawl was viewed by many
as a test case for dealing with pedophile activity on the Internet and the controversial penalties handed to
the perpetrators were immediately condemned whilst the sentences were as severe as investigators for operation
Cathedral expected a coalition of seven UK charities campaigning for child protection said they were deeply
disappointed by the results while praising the efforts of police in tackling internet crime and child sex
abuse they worried the lenient sentences meant that pedophiles would continue to
thrive online Ruth Dixon the deputy chief executive of the internet watch foundation told BBC
news journalists that the internet must not be seen as a safe and anonymous haven for people to do what they like
director of the Child Protection charity kids gape dr. Michelle Elliot called the sentences
a joke saying you would get a longest sentence for accumulating masses of parking tickets or for burglary
I am absolutely stupefied by the Saline E&C that sends a clear message that these crimes are not being taken
seriously the courts should be concentrating on the pitches these men collected of horrific child abuse which
encourages more abuse of vulnerable children if we want to stop people doing things like this 12 months is no
deterrent especially when they will be out in half the time london-based attorney Robin bino
believed plea bargaining was inappropriate in such a case explaining whether it is a lighter sentence or not
they are effectively getting cash back for not wasting the Court's time I think where there is a case like this where
material of this nature is being disseminated it sends out the wrong message if nobody gets the maximum
sentence the judicial system owes it to the nation when something is being dealt
with for the first time as is the case here that all the issues are considered in a full-strength trial nevertheless
for the officer in charge of operation cathedral detective Superintendent Peter Spindler the convictions were a victory
quote when the Crime Squad took on the operation we were aware that they could only be sentenced to three years in
prison but we had to take on the operation to highlight the level of appalling behavior on the Internet
it has contributed to change it's a great relief to conclude what's been a very long operation we can combat crime
on the Internet we won't tolerate child pornography in the UK if anybody thinks that in a modern civilized society that
a sexual preference for children is acceptable then they're wrong and to the prison sentences in the future will be
three times as long as they'd been today as the operation Cathedral arrests were
underway a new law was proposed in the UK to increase the maximum sentence for such offences to ten years it was passed
by British Parliament in January 2001 and although this was too late to impact the Wunderland trials it ensured
pedophiles appearing in court in the future would face far more severe sentencing as a result of being wiry
harsher legislation was also introduced overseas following the breakdown of the Wunderland to network officers who took
part in operation Cathedral were praised for their diligence and to the thankless
task of viewing all the illicit material the investigation had a profound impact
on those involved with officers having to undergo compulsory psychological debriefing and some retiring from the
force altogether the deputy director general of the National Crime Squad Bob Peckham stated it has been a
difficult and distressing investigation and I hope that our actions have prevented further abuse of children
across the world the national directors of charity organizations Save the Children and end child prostitution
pornography and trafficking released the joint statement that read we applaud the
raid on the internet child pornography ring known as Wonderland the raid is a timely reminder of the need for a
coordinated approach to fight this threat to children but also a message of hope for the results that cooperation
can bring with 40 million Internet users worldwide the threat is a truly global one child sex offenders who formerly met
to swap child pornography in secret can now do so from any country in the world in the apparent security of their own
homes the ease of spreading such images also threatens to introduce new and wider audiences a fact that is
especially alarming given the higher correlation between the practice of viewing child pornography and the
commission of sex offenses against children the statement went on to explain the
importance of raising awareness of the often anonymous dangers facing children when they login online and ended with we
congratulate all those involved in operation Cathedral in an exclusive conversation with ZDNet news convicted
Wunderland member david heinz admitted if it wasn't for the internet on might have gone on to rape a child and he
warned other pedophiles will start their own channel and then they'll go looking
for each other and regroup and the group will eventually be as big as it was with
new members with new pictures and with all of the old pictures which are still floating around out there his statement
echoed research conducted by the National Association of probation officers which concluded that most
online pedophiles did not seek treatment as they don't consider themselves criminals and to view their actions as
victimless spokesperson Harry Fletcher said we are only beginning to understand the scale of this crime it is a major
problem that their offending behavior is not being challenged operation Cathedral
faced criticism minutes aftermath is only a fraction of Wonderland's 200-plus users were ever identified and arrested
of those who were less than half faced Patrol although the pedophile ring was found to be established in 47 countries
just 14 participated in the inquiry and were invited to the Interpol conference where the raids to take down Wonderland
were planned some countries lacked the legal framework required expertise or political will to tackle the issue or
their law enforcement agencies were considered too corrupt to participate in a sensitive international inquiry
according to a report released by the International Network to end child prostitution pornography and trafficking
excluded countries included Ireland New Zealand Israel Japan in Spain and South Africa Holland and
Canada were initially involved but pulled out of the operation shortly before the raids were scheduled to go
ahead the Dutch police took action against a number of suspects later on but the Canadian authorities never
tackled their 14 suspects despite these criticisms operation Cathedral inspired several other global inquiries in the
preceding years including Blue Orchid Candyman artists and tween Odysseus which resulted in the identification of
thousands more online predators from across the world in 2001 the British National Crime Squad was at the
forefront of another international crackdown titled Operation landmark which saw the arrest of another 130
suspected pedophiles from 19 countries as a result of that investigation authorities were able to add another
60,000 obscene images to its database to assist in victim identification and global missing children cases in the UK
the seven convicted Wonderland members were steadily released from prison with some serving less than half of their
allotted time upon their release several of the men changed their names and went
on to Rea offend in 2012 former Wunderland member Gavin sieges changed his name to Gavin Smith and was realized
after he was caught on lyin discussing his fantasies of sexual abuse and torture against children he pled guilty
to nine offences of publishing obscene material and was handed a three-month suspended jail sentence on December 11
2010 a staff member at Manchester's old trafford library contacted police to report that a man had been witnessed
viewing and uploading indecent images of minors he had been using the library's computers near the children's book
section when the offender reappeared at the library two days later police placed
him under arrest seizing two computers and for memory sticks he was identified as 49 year old
Anthony Andrews of no fixed address analysis of the computers revealed Andrews had been interacting with a
highly sophisticated global pedophile network that was under investigation by the FBI and authorities in Italy the
search of the hostel where injuries were staying uncovered a locked box that contained two journals full of
handwritten sexual fantasies about children he also possessed the guard on how to
groom and abuse children plus another on how to survive prison and what to do upon release as it turned out
Anthony interest was the new identity adopted by convicted child molester and former Wonderland Chairman Gary salt in
April 2006 salt was released from prison on licence after serving just half of his 12 year sentence for sex crimes
against children he broke his conditions shortly after buying computer magazines
and receiving discs in the mail from a convicted sex offender he was subsequently recalled back to prison
where in January 2008 prison officers raided his cell and found a literature outlining sexual encounters with
children and evidence to suggest assault was plotting a new online pedophile ring
salt was released from prison again on April 16 2010 and to join to the Manchester library service the day after
by December he had downloaded 250,000 illicit images and videos of children Detective Constable Barry Conway of the
Greater Manchester police stated salt is a convicted sex offender who has shown no desire to rehabilitate he has some
sort of perverse status among other sex offenders and in the sickening circles in which he
moves it is something he clearly relishes Gary salt had admitted to 25 offenses including making indecent
images of children possessing indecent images attempted distribution of indecent images possessing extreme child
pornography and breaching a sexual offences prevention order until could be proven he no longer posed a risk to
children salt was jailed indefinitely with sentencing judge Peter lakyn telling him you were clearly a committed
and very active pedophile who is not willing or able to address your distorted behavior the National Crime
Squad cropped and sanitized a portion of the 750,000 images seized from Wonderland to allow investigators to
better examine them for clues to help identify and to locate the victims they scrutinized the backgrounds of the
pictures for any details that could help indicate where or when they were taken such as electrical sockets furnishings
magazines or wallpaper Detective Chief Inspector Alex wood stated for me the worst images were the ones showing the
expression on the child's face and not necessarily what's happening to them I can't help but think of the damage
that's been done out of 750,000 images the faces of 1263 individual children have been isolated and compiled into a
database categorized by gender age and ethnicity Interpol has distributed this database to police forces worldwide and
it is only available to view through law enforcement agencies that investigate online child sex offences National Crime
Squad detective Superintendent John stewartson believes that the work of operation Cathedral will only be
complete when authorities can identify all the nameless victims in the database investigators hold concerns that many of
these victims are at risk of further abuse or even death Detective Constable Barry Conway of the Greater Manchester
Police stated every indecent image recovered tells a story of harrowing abuse and we are dedicated to
identifying and bringing to justice anyone involved in such offending whether it is for the sharing of images
or the abuse itself only 17 children featured in Wonderland's immense library have been positively identified
[Music] you

Case 115: Operation Cathedral

Schoolgirls Allison and Mary had been best friends for years, spending most of their time together at school, soccer practice, and sleepovers...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research, writing – Milly Raso Editing – Elsha McGill Production, scoring – Mike Migas

SOCIAL LINKS

Website https://www.casefilepodcast.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/casefile Twitter https://twitter.com/case_file Instagram https://www.instagram.com/casefilepodcast Patreon https://www.patreon.com/casefile

RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-115-operation-cathedral

Brief Summary

The episode covers the Ronald Riva case and the Wonderland pedophile ring, detailing child abuse and a global investigation.

Key points

The Arrest of Ronald Riva. Ronald Riva was arrested for child molestation, shocking the close-knit community.
The Horrific Sleepover. During a slumber party, Ronald Riva assaulted Alison and documented the abuse.
The Orchid Club Investigation. Investigators uncovered a pedophile ring operating online, leading to multiple arrests.
Massive Scale of Distribution. In just six days, the men distributed over 1600 images to 17 users.
Grooming and Abuse. Gary Salt groomed Lucy over months, leading to his arrest.
Operation Cathedral Launched. A large-scale police inquiry was initiated to track down Wonderland's members.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I thought Ron was my friend but he lied.

Emily's realization about Ronald Riva's betrayal

6:23WatchJun 22, 2019

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from Casefile

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.