Blanchard was guilty of “breathtaking depravity”, the judge told him The leader of a paedophile ring which sexually abused young children and shared the images has been jailed.
Colin Blanchard, 40, of Rochdale, admitted a string of sex offences. He received an indeterminate sentence, and must spend at least nine years in jail.
Two women were also sentenced. Tracy Lyons, 41, of Portsmouth was jailed for seven years and Tracy Dawber, 44, of Southport, was jailed for four years.
Plymouth nursery worker Vanessa George, 40, was jailed in 2009.
She received an indeterminate sentence, as did the fifth member of the ring, 40-year-old Angela Allen, of Nottingham. They were given minimum terms of seven years and five years respectively.
Mr Justice Royce, sitting at Bristol Crown Court, said Blanchard was guilty of “breathtaking depravity”, and described him as “warped, wicked, dangerous and devious”.
Det Con Andrew Piling said the case was disturbing and unique
Prosecutors described all the defendants as being involved in “one of the most sickening paedophile rings this country has seen”.
Blanchard, a father-of-one, met the women over the internet and convinced them to sexually assault young children and send him the images.
The ring was broken when a colleague of Blanchard found child sex abuse images on his computer in June 2009 and called police.
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