A man from north London has appeared in court accused of operating and moderating multiple dark web forums used to distribute child sexual abuse material.

Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court heard that Matthew Slate, 36, of Haringey, is alleged to have been part of a global organised crime group involved in the large-scale sharing of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.

Prosecutors claim that Slate acted as a “global moderator” on a dark web forum known as Olympus, operating under the username “Loudechoes”. The court was told that his alleged involvement with the site spanned more than 18 months. He is also accused of working on a second child abuse forum between 20 July 2023 and 15 June 2024.

The case has now been referred to Wood Green Crown Court, where a plea hearing is scheduled to take place on 19 February.

The prosecution further alleges that in August 2024, Slate paid for a third dark web forum, SoulCloud 2, to be hosted using the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero, which is commonly used to obscure financial transactions.

Slate faces a total of 15 charges, including:

• Three counts of arranging or facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child under the age of 13
• Two counts of participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group
• Six counts of distributing indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child
• Three counts of making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child
• One count of possessing a prohibited image of a child

According to prosecutors, Slate is alleged to have facilitated the sharing of more than 2,000 images and videos of child sexual abuse between July 2023 and February 2025. The court also heard that he is accused of possessing approximately 57,000 illegal images of children, including more than 10,000 classified in the most serious category of abuse.

Slate has been released on bail under nine strict conditions. These include cooperating with the National Crime Agency by providing access to his electronic devices. He is prohibited from using encryption or data-wiping software, accessing the dark web, or using messaging applications such as Snapchat, WhatsApp, or Signal. He is also banned from deleting his internet browsing history.

As part of his bail conditions, Slate must reside overnight at his home in north London or an alternative approved address in Epping. He is also forbidden from having unsupervised contact with children.