A PHILOSOPHY graduate believed to be a leading member of a global network of paedophiles known as the Shadowz Brotherhood has been jailed for 18 months.

Ritesh Patel, 26, of Somerset Road, Southall, kept films on his computer showing children as young as two being abused, a court heard. One movie showed an eight-year-old girl being raped.

Patel, who works in a bureau de change at Heathrow Airport appeared for sentencing at Southwark Crown Court on Friday.

Detectives who swooped on Patel's home in a dawn raid found sex toys, baby oil, body paint, a Polaroid camera, a video camera set up by his bed and a collection of indecent pictures.

James Jones, prosecuting, told the court images found on Patel's computer showed indecent acts being performed on young children.

Patel joined an internet chat site known as the Professors but moved to the Shadowz Brotherhood when the site was shut down. He gave members lurid details of his fantasy of performing a sex act on a 16-year-old Italian girl.

Detective Inspector Michael Randall from the National High Tech Crime Unit told the court: "The Shadowz of Brotherhood is a group of very sophisticated computer users on a global scale. They set themselves up on the internet in a password protected environment.

"You get invited into the brotherhood and are given a password and as you swap material you get more trusted. You are then given a password where pornographic images are available for only a couple of hours."

Patel pleaded guilty to seven charges of making indecent photographs of children and one of inciting others to make indecent photographs of a child between May 31 and July 3 last year.

He had five films and two sets of eight photographs.

Mitigating, Sharon Leene told the court: "He is a curious person by habit. He was drawn into the site. In the secrecy of his bedroom he could not see who he was hurting, but he can now."

Jailing Patel, Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC said: "There is no doubt you were one of a band of people who were engaged in the exploitation of abused children that is a matter of widespread concern in this country."

Patel was put on licence for three years and ordered to sign the sexual offenders register for ten years.

January 23, 2003 10:00