Perhaps some of the worst things on the darknet are the services where millions take pleasure in child abuse and solicit videos/images of underaged children. One particular individual who helped run the now-defunct CP website “The Annex” is a Psychiatrist from London named “Kabir Garg.”
Garg was arrested by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) back in November 2022 and has officially been trialled. He will only spend six years in prison for his crimes.
Running The Annex
The Annex was a website that hosted images and videos of sexual abuse against children. It had atleast 90,000 regular members and over 1.4 Million visitors. Dr Kabir Garg, 33, worked for the website and even uploaded various videos of his own to the website.
Being such a major website, the Annex worked like a company and had atleast 30 staff members who worked in shifts around the clock.
Although it’s unclear whether Garg started the website, the NCA proved that he was heavily involved as one of the CP website moderators. According to the report, the NCA believes Garg was initially a member but dedicated time and effort to becoming sufficiently trusted to be invited to be a moderator.
While working for the website, Garg ensured a smooth running of the site by enforcing various rules, and helping find private sections. He even gave advice in one-to-one private messages on how to share images of child sexual abuse.
After a coordinated operation by various LE partners, they managed to trace down Garg and arrest him. At the time of arrest, he had the Annex website open on a laptop while logged in with his moderator account. The laptop contained more than 7000 files containing child abuse.
Over 500 of these images were categorised as “Category A” images (the most serious category of indecent material). With no excuse left at hand, Garg could only plead guilty for his crimes.
“Kabir Garg’s crimes are especially shocking, given his role as a NHS psychiatrist, treating vulnerable members of the public, and his understanding of the psychological impact of sexual abuse on children.
This case illustrates the determination of investigators and the CPS to pursue child sexual offenders, including those who have moved their vile activity onto the Dark Web. These sites are horrific and have no place in society.”
Bethany Raine, Specialist Prosecutor of the CPS’ Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit
On Friday at Woolwich Crown Court, Garg plead guilty to eight charges, including facilitating the sexual exploitation of children, three counts each of making and distributing indecent images of children and possession of prohibited images.
For his crimes, Garg will only spend six years in prison, a light sentence considering his crimes.
An Obsessed Psychiatrist
Aside from his studies, it’s clear that Garg knew exactly how the website’s content would affect the victims. Obsessed with the content, Garg had saved multiple articles, journals, and books about Sexual Abuse on Children. Garg had both studied and found pleasure in the psychological impact of sexual abuse on children.
Included in his titles were ‘Puberty and Adolescent Sexuality’, ‘A Study on Child Abuse India’, and ‘Effects and Aftermath of Rape’. Child sexual abuse and molestation are linked to a range of serious mental health issues. Some long-term side effects include PTSD, Depression, substance abuse, anxiety, eating disorders, gender dysphoria, and of course STDs.
“He used the dark web to access a global community of paedophiles sharing and discussing horrific crimes against children. He then ensured he was such a trusted and respected member that he was invited to become a member of staff, involved in its daily management. This organisation and willingness to enable other offenders raise his criminality to a higher, more appalling level. There are hundreds of thousands of members of such sites on the dark web, but few of them are prepared to commit to being a member of staff, which involved dedicating a lot of time for no pay.
As a doctor of psychiatry, he knew full well the devastating impact and trauma that abuse causes children, but this clearly did not deter him. The NCA has the determination and skill to identify the most dangerous offenders who use the dark web in an attempt to hide their identity. We will stop at nothing to ensure they face justice and to protect children from sexual abuse.”
As Adam Priestley from the NCA put it
Once released Garg will be registered as a sex offender. According to UK law, Garg is subject to a Serious Harm Prevention Order.
More Arrests
Since the Annex went down, the FBI and other agencies have worked to take down all those involved in the operation. Garg is the second of many to be arrested and sentenced; another member received 28 years in prison. The FBI arrested and is in the process of convicting an additional four men in the US for their involvement in running the site.
It’s good to see LE attack the greater issues that lay within the darknet rather than removing the worlds freedom and privacy as a whole.
Hey there, I’m a dark web geek who’s been around for the last 8 years. More precisely, I’m livedarknet’s senior content writer who’s been writing about darknet marketplaces, tutorials, and cybersecurity stuff for educational purposes.