Hurtcore, a portmanteau of the words "hardcore" and "hurt", is a name given to a particularly extreme form of child pornography, usually involving degrading violence, bodily harm, and torture, typically relating to child sexual abuse.[1][2][3] Eileen Ormsby, Australian writer and author of The Darkest Web,[4] described hurtcore as "a fetish for people who get aroused by the infliction of pain, or even torture, on another person who is not a willing participant".[1] An additional motivation for the perpetrator, next to their position of power over their victims, can be the reaction of their victims to the physical abuse, like crying or screaming in pain. This reaction can stimulate the arousal of the perpetrator even more.
Some dark web forums are dedicated to the discussion, and sharing of images and videos, of hurtcore.[5] In 2013, Vice called Hurt2theCore "the dark web's most notorious hurtcore site",[1] run by Matthew Graham,[6] who became known as the "King of Hurtcore",[1] as well as "one of the biggest child pornography and hurtcore distributors in the world".[7] The case of Matthew Falder was the UK National Crime Agency's first successful hurtcore prosecution.[8]
Notable arrests
- Matthew Alexander Falder – Englishman who, from a period of time between 2009 and 2017, coerced his victims online into sending him degrading images of themselves or into committing crimes against a third person such as rape or assault. He managed this by making threats to the victim by saying that he would send their family or friends degrading information or revealing pictures of them (which he usually obtained earlier by obtaining a false trust with the victim) if they did not comply with his commands. Falder hid behind anonymous accounts on the web and then re-posted the images to gain a higher status on the dark web.[5] Investigators said that he "revelled" in getting images to share on hurtcore websites. The National Crime Agency (NCA), which was part of an international investigation, described him as "one of the most prolific and depraved offenders they had ever encountered." Falder pleaded guilty to 137 charges from 46 complainants,[9] making him one of the UK's most prolific convicted sex offenders. In February 2018, he was jailed for 32 years and ordered to serve a further six years on extended licence. The Court of Appeal later reduced the term of imprisonment to 25 years, with an extended licence of 8 years.[10]
- Peter Gerard Scully – Australian man who, from the Filipino island of Mindanao, built up and headed a lucrative international child sexual abuse ring that offered pay-per-view video streams on the dark web of children being sexually abused and tortured. Among the victims who had their ordeals recorded and sold over the internet was a five-year-old who was raped and tortured by Scully and two female accomplices.[11] Scully is infamous for producing Daisy's Destruction, a series of four videos depicting the rape and torture of an 18-month-old infant named Daisy. The videos feature one of Scully's Filipina girlfriends (Liezyl Margallo Castaña[12][13]) torturing the toddler in several different ways, including genital torture and beating. Daisy's two sisters Liza and Cindy also torture, although not as extreme as what Daisy suffered. According to Margallo, Scully recorded himself in a video with Cindy (victim 3), in which he raped and tortured her, then made her dig her own grave before strangling her to death with a rope.[14] Scully's victims were procured by Scully with promises to impoverished parents of work or education, or were solicited by Alvarez and Castaña. Scully was imprisoned for life in the Philippines after being convicted of one count of human trafficking and five counts of rape by sexual assault of children.[15] Scully was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2018. In November 2022, he received a second conviction and was sentenced to an additional 129 years in prison.[16]
See also
- Child pornography
- Cybersex trafficking
- Dark web
- Deep web
- Livestreamed crime
- Sex trafficking
- Sextortion
- Snuff film
References
- ^ a b c d Daly, Max (19 February 2018). "Inside the Repulsive World of 'Hurtcore', the Worst Crimes Imaginable". Vice. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ Johnston, Chris (14 May 2016). "Lux captured: The simple error that brought down the world's worst hurtcore paedophile". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ Evans, Martin (7 February 2018). "GCHQ helped catch 'hurtcore' paedophile, Matthew Falder". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ Lee, Bri (21 March 2018). "The Darkest Web: exploring the ugly world of illegal online marketplaces". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ a b Wallace, Ben (3 December 2018). "Part of Withdrawal Agreement: Legal Position – in the House of Commons at 7:05 pm on 3rd December 2018". TheyWorkForYou. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ O'Neill, Patrick Howell (24 June 2014). "Internet's worst pedophile abruptly shuts down his 'PedoEmpire'". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019.
- ^ Tankard Reist, Melinda (6 July 2017). "Why Are Australian Telcos and ISPs Enabling a Child Sexual Abuse Pandemic?". ABC Online. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ "Matthew Falder posed as female artist for online sex attacks". BBC. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ Halliday, Josh (16 October 2017). "Cambridge graduate admits 137 online sexual abuse crimes". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "Dark web paedophile sentence reduced". BBC News. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ Sutton, Candace (23 September 2016). "Australian child molester Peter Scully faces death penalty in Philippines". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ Murdoch, Lindsay (20 September 2016). "Death penalty call for accused Australian child sex predator Peter Scully in Philippines". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "Ex-girlfriend of accused pedophile Peter Scully arrested over child sex videos". Yahoo! News Australia. 29 January 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ Brown, Tara (2015). "Catching a Monster". 60 Minutes (published 27 August 2020). Nine News. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Australian Peter Scully given life sentence for human trafficking, rape in Philippines, reports say". ABC News (Australia). 14 June 2018. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "Aussie, girlfriend sentenced to over 120 years for trafficking". www.pna.gov.ph. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
