Brian Darby, an 80-year-old former police officer, has been sentenced to four years in prison for sharing disturbing online fantasies and creating child abuse images with artificial intelligence. The sentence includes an additional two years on license upon release.
Darby, who previously served 15 years of a life sentence for attempted murder and conspiracy to murder, was arrested in February after police discovered he had begun searching for child abuse images within days of his release in 2017. An investigation by the Met's Online Child Sexual Abuse Exploitation team uncovered online chats where Darby shared fantasies involving rape and murder. He also posted a sexual fantasy about killing children on Reddit.
Prosecutors detailed some of his online communications, which included a scenario involving the strangulation of his wife with family members offering encouragement and advice. In other posts, Darby suggested that schools should train girls to be sex slaves and that women should be killed at the age of 30.
Darby pleaded guilty to nine counts of obscene communication, three counts of making indecent photographs of a child, and two counts of distributing indecent photographs of a child. The court heard that Darby used encryption technology to attempt to conceal his identity while creating the child abuse images with AI.
During sentencing, the judge described Darby as "emotionally detached and indifferent" and noted his "entrenched interest in violent sexual material involving children and adults, your online dissemination of that material and fantasies, and a pattern of offending." The judge warned that Darby may never be fully released.
Darby, who was dismissed from Leicestershire Police in the 1970s after being convicted of indecently assaulting boys, had also worked as a health and safety officer for the BBC. His prior criminal history includes plotting with his lover, Jeanette White, to murder a woman and her children. In 2001, Darby was convicted of attempted murder and conspiracy to murder. He had stalked potential victims and broken into one woman's home, intending to rape and kill her.
Darby's defense attorney stated that he accepted his actions were wrong and attributed them to an uncontrollable addiction. However, the judge assessed Darby as a dangerous offender, citing the echo of his 2002 convictions in his latest offenses. Darby will be eligible for parole after serving approximately two and a half years of his sentence, but he must first convince the Parole Board that he is no longer a risk.