A north London man has pleaded guilty to encouraging other members of an online forum to sexually assault victims of drug addiction, the Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Police discovered the forum in October 2025 and established a national co-ordination group led by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to investigate the matter.
After investigating, authorities identified Darren Conway, 52, of Enfield, as one of the members of the group chat.
On July 30, police executed a search warrant at Conway’s home, seized digital devices, and arrested him.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, messages on the device showed that Conway encouraged other forum participants to sexually assault drugged or sleeping women, and later encouraged the perpetrators to share the images in the chat.
Police said Conway saw the woman sleeping at least 10 times through chat rooms.
“Conway’s actions were shocking. By encouraging others to commit sexual crimes against unconscious, sleeping or otherwise unconscious victims, he put the women in his home at serious risk of harm, all for his own sexual gratification,” said Metropolitan Police Commander Andy Day.
On Friday, Conway appeared at Wood Green Crown Court in London and pleaded guilty to charges of voyeurism and possession of extreme pornographic images, as well as nine charges of aiding or encouraging a crime.
In court Mr Conway, wearing a gray tracksuit, spoke only to confirm his name and plead guilty to the British Press Association (PA). Reported.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on October 30th.
This incident is representative of a broader trend in which online forums serve as a platform for criminals to encourage others to drug and sexually assault unconscious victims.
Europol and the UK’s NCA revealed in July that an interpol investigation had uncovered a highly organized online ecosystem of criminals.
Authorities say the chat rooms are where primarily male perpetrators coordinate assaults and share information and images of abuse.
Ciara Bergman, chief executive of Rape Crisis England and Wales, a charity that provides services to people affected by sexual violence and abuse, said the scale and coordination of drug-induced sexual abuse at the forum was “deeply worrying”.
“But unfortunately, they’re not surprising,” Bergman added. “These abuses are rooted in the same misogyny and objectification that underlies violence against women and girls around the world.”
CNN conducted an undercover investigation into this issue and uncovered an online network where men encourage others to commit acts of sexual violence against women.
The issue became known around the world with the high-profile case of Gisele Pericot in France. Pericot’s ex-husband was sentenced to 20 years in prison for soliciting dozens of strangers to rape his then-wife while she was unconscious. This shocking crime has sparked a debate about the existence of gender-based violence in France.
Since then, police have arrested and convicted several people in similar cases across Europe.
According to the NCA, victims often do not realize they have been sexually assaulted until they are contacted by police.
Following Conway’s guilty plea, officers are continuing to identify the individuals seen in the footage recovered from the confiscated device.
The Metropolitan Police said many of the victims are believed to be based in the UK, but some may live overseas.
Tracy Easton, lead prosecutor in the case, said Conway had committed “despicable acts towards women within the household”.
Mr Easton said: “Systematic drug-assisted sexual assault is abhorrent and we are determined to work with police to bring perpetrators to justice.”
“We hope this guilty plea will give others who believe they may have been subjected to similar abuse the confidence to come forward.”
