Seven British men caught in the largest-ever international police operation against Internet child pornography were jailed today for a combined total of 13 1/2 years.
The seven were members of the so-called "Wonderland Club", who met via the Internet to trade pornographic images of children.
"Children represent the future, they should be cared for and protected", said Judge Kenneth MacRae as he sentenced the men at Kingston Crown Court, southwest of London.
"You, all of you, subscribing to Wonderland...betrayed that principle.
"The use and abuse of children for your own perverted gratification has horrified all right-minded people", he added.
"You have, directly or indirectly, exploited the most vulnerable. Not protected by their adults, they are wholly degraded, submitting to acts of depravity."
All seven men had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute indecent images of children.
Earlier the court had heard from prosecutors who described how the "Wonderland Club" built up a vast Internet lending library of porn featuring children as young as three months.
More than 1,250 children, mostly under the age of 10, were featured in the pictures, but only 17 had been identified - from Britain, the US, Argentina, Portugal and Chile.
The gang was smashed in an international police operation in September 1998 which saw a total of 107 people arrested in Britain, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the US.
Law enforcement agencies in those countries seized a total of 750,000 pornographic images and 1,800 computerised videos of children suffering sexual abuse.
Sentences ranged from one to 30 months for the seven men, who were aged between 25 and 46 years.
Reuters