North London Man Admits Encouraging Sexual Assault Through Online Forum
Goldlaner.com – A 52-year-old man from Enfield has admitted using an online chat forum to encourage sexual assaults against women who were drugged, asleep or otherwise unable to consent.
Darren Conway entered guilty pleas at Wood Green Crown Court in London on Friday after an investigation into a wider network of online offenders. The case has drawn attention to digital spaces where users allegedly promote drug-facilitated sexual abuse, exchange material and encourage attacks against vulnerable victims.
Conway pleaded guilty to nine counts of assisting or encouraging an offense. He also admitted charges involving voyeurism and possession of an extreme pornographic image. He is due to be charged on October 30.
During the hearing, Conway wore a gray tracksuit and spoke only to confirm his identity and enter his guilty pleas.
Investigation began with discovery of online forum
The Metropolitan Police found the forum in October 2025. A national coordination group was then established under the leadership of the UK’s National Crime Agency to examine the activity and identify people believed to be involved.
Investigators later identified Conway as a participant in the group chat. Officers searched his home on July 30, seized digital devices and arrested him.
Material recovered from those devices showed messages in which Conway encouraged other forum users to sexually assault women who had been drugged or were sleeping. He also encouraged people responsible for the attacks to post images in the chat.
Police said Conway viewed footage of sleeping women through the chatroom on more than 10 occasions.
“Conway’s actions were shocking. By encouraging others to engage in sexual offending against victims who were unconscious, asleep, or otherwise stupefied, he has put women at a serious risk of harm in their own homes — all for his own sexual gratification,” Met Police Commander Andy Day said.
Authorities continue work to identify victims
The inquiry has not ended with Conway’s guilty plea. Officers are still examining the recovered material and trying to identify people shown in the footage taken from his devices.
Many of the potential victims are believed to be in the United Kingdom, though police have said some could be living in other countries. In cases involving drug-facilitated abuse, victims may not know an assault took place until they are contacted during an investigation.
The case highlights the particular difficulty facing police when alleged offending is organized online. Forums and chat groups can allow users in different locations to communicate quickly, normalize criminal behavior and circulate images that may help investigators trace people involved. At the same time, identifying victims can be complex when footage does not immediately reveal names, locations or the circumstances in which it was recorded.
For people who suspect they may have experienced drug-facilitated sexual abuse, the investigation underscores the importance of seeking support and reporting concerns. Police and specialist sexual violence services can help people understand reporting options, whether or not they are certain about what occurred.
Part of a broader international concern
Law enforcement agencies across Europe have increasingly focused on online communities in which predominantly male users are alleged to coordinate assaults, share abuse imagery and exchange information relating to drugging victims.
In July, Europol and Britain’s National Crime Agency disclosed an international operation that identified what they described as a highly organized online ecosystem of offenders. The existence and apparent coordination of those networks has raised concerns among campaigners working with survivors of sexual violence.
“Sadly, though, they are not surprising,” Ciara Bergman, chief executive of Rape Crisis England & Wales, said. “These abuses are rooted in the same misogyny and objectification which underpin violence against women and girls the world over.”
Bergman described the scale and organization of the alleged drug-facilitated abuse discussed on such forums as “deeply alarming.” Her comments reflect concern that online settings can reinforce attitudes that reduce women to objects and treat the absence of consent as irrelevant.
The issue gained wider public attention through the case of Gisèle Pelicot in France. Her former husband received a 20-year prison sentence after soliciting dozens of strangers to rape his then-wife while she was unconscious. The case prompted major discussion in France about gender-based violence and the ways victims can be exploited without their knowledge.
Police forces across Europe have since made arrests and secured convictions in related cases. Investigators continue to confront the challenge of tracing activity across platforms, recovering digital evidence and locating people who may have been harmed.
Prosecutors stress determination to pursue offenders
Tracy Easton, the chief prosecutor in Conway’s case, condemned the conduct admitted in court and said prosecutors would continue working alongside police to hold offenders accountable.
“Organized drug-facilitated sexual assault is abhorrent and we are determined to work with policing to bring offenders to justice,” Easton said. “I hope this guilty plea gives confidence to anyone who believes they may have been subjected to similar abuse to come forward.”
The proceedings against Conway stand as a reminder that encouragement of serious sexual offending can itself lead to criminal prosecution. The ongoing effort to identify people in the recovered footage also means the wider investigation remains active, with authorities seeking to establish who may have been affected and where they are located.
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