Man who posted videos of him abusing toddler jailed after police recognise his Nike trainers

A man who posted images of him sexually assaulting two children child abuse on the internet in order to join a vile pedophile group has been jailed for 15 years after he was recognized in the videos because of his shoes.

Thirty one-year-old Tashan Gallagher sexually assaulted a 6-month-old baby girl and a 2-year-old boy, the disturbing footage of which he then posted on the encrypted social media app called Telegram.

The Daily Mail reported that Judge Timothy Stead told Gallagher while he was sentencing him at the Bolton Crown Court that the "breach of trust had been in the vilest possible manner." The furious judge added: "Choosing words to describe the nature of this vile offending is wholly inadequate."

Gallagher was also given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and forced to sign the sex offenders register for life.

The pedophile filmed the horrific attacks on the children four times and uploaded them to Telegram in 2017. He allegedly did this because he wanted to join a pedophile discussion group which had the stipulation that new members had to post brand new abuse images.

In October 2018, intelligence services in America shared all the information they had in the case with the National Crime Agency. The information related to the video files that Gallagher had shared on Dropbox and he was arrested less than 24 hours later.

The authorities searched his home and found a pair of Nike Air Max trainers that he was seen wearing in one of the abuse videos and the phone he had used to record and then upload the footage. Research into Gallagher's social media page shows him wearing the trainers.

When he was being interviewed by the authorities, Gallagher told them that he was looking at inappropriate images of children for around 2 and a half years. He also denied that he had any sexual interest in children but said that he did it because he got gratification from engaging with pedophiles who did.

Graham Ellis, who was in charge of the investigation, said: "Tashan Gallagher has been convicted of some truly incomprehensible, horrific crimes. His escalation of offending is very frightening; going from viewing abuse images to sexually abusing children, recording it and posting it online so he could join a private group."

"These forums incite offenders to increase their offending and are at the epicenter of online child sexual abuse. Gallagher represents where law enforcement needs to be, targeting the highest risk, most dangerous offenders using covert and specialist capabilities as required. The NCA will continue to work with our partners, at home and abroad, to ensure those who abuse children are brought to justice."

Gallagher, who is from Leigh, Greater Manchester, admitted to one charge of rape, four counts of sexual assault, five charges of making indecent photographs, two counts of distributing an indecent image of a child and two counts of possession of indecent images.