Child rapist Martyn Armstrong was jailed for life (Picture: Wales News Service)

A prolific and ‘evil’ child rapist has finally been brought to justice and jailed for life after police used new technology to unpixelate photos he took while carrying out sex attacks.

Martyn Armstrong, from Pembrokeshire, documented himself committing ‘depraved’ acts against three children – including a victim as young as one – over a number of years and posted the pictures to the dark web.

The 50-year-old was arrested in July last year after officers developed the tool which had never been used before.

He pleaded guilty to a total of 41 counts of rape of a child under the age of 13 and sexual assault related to two victims, and to making, distributing and possessing indecent images of children.

In a victim impact statement, one of the people he abused labelled him a ‘monster’ who had ‘forever darkened a piece of my childhood.’

Roger Griffiths, prosecuting, told Cardiff crown court Armstrong had taken the images between 2005 and 2007, as well as between December 2009 and February 2011, and had admitted to taking photos of a third child on a beach in 2010.

Martyn Armstrong, 50, admitted a series of child sexual abuse charges (Picture: PA)

Armstrong posted 200 extremely graphic images and a video under the file name ‘Father Jones’, which shows him repeatedly raping his youngest victim.

The series was known to crime agencies across the world since 2013 due to the file being shared and downloaded across 18 countries.

The folder was still being shared in the UK in early 2022 across six websites, and had been found by police forces in 583 forensic submissions.

Mr Griffiths said Armstrong had used photoshop to place a zig-zag distortion across his image, but made no attempt to disguise the identities of his victims.

Due to his face being blurred, investigators were unable to identify the paedophile for almost a decade, despite attempts by law enforcement partners from Australia, Italy and France, with an officer from the latter country identifying the exact beach location in Wales, which had featured in some of the images.

Mr Griffiths said: ‘One image featured the offenders face with a zig zag distortion. As a result in July 2022 and the National Crime Agency officers using their new tool they were able to unpixelate the image of the defendant in that series.’

The software was developed by NCA officers in the UK and is the first of its kind to be developed in the world. It is expected the programme will help future perpetrators to be identified.

From the undistorted image, the officers were able to identify Armstrong’s Facebook profile leading to his arrest.

Officers seized a number of his devices and discovered a disturbing cache of images including 789 category A, 989 category B and 2227 category C.

Mr Griffiths said: ‘Mr Armstrong was tracked down and asked if he was guilty of the offences and he answered, “To some of them, yes”.

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Adam Sharp, defending, said: ‘Mr Armstrong does not want me to try to mitigate the depravity of his actions or the impact they had on his victims.’

Mr Sharp said his client has taken full responsibility for his actions, but asked the judge to take into account how he cooperated with officers and had led them to identify other victims.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, one of his victims said: ‘The second I saw the piece of paper (with the images), it felt like I couldn’t breathe.

‘I saw my smiley, younger self full of happiness, confidence and innocence. I am no longer able to look at these pictures without a rush of panic and heartache. I feel betrayed, manipulated and deceived.’

Addressing Armstrong, they said: ‘You abused me, manipulated me and have forever darkened a piece of my childhood.

‘When I think about the type of person who could commit such horrific crimes, I feel like only a monster could ever be responsible. Never did I think that all along, the only monster was you.’

Sentencing Armstrong to a life imprisonment with a minimum term of 14 years, Recorder of Cardiff Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said: ‘In these courts we deal with the most serious sexual offences but the nature and depravity of your offending is shocking.

‘No doubt you thought the precautions you took to hide your identity would protect you from being identified.

‘Thanks to the good work of officers from the National Crime Agency and other law enforcement agencies across the world you were apprehended.’

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He’s been sentenced to at least 14 years behind bars.