Church-going businesswoman who took part in paedophile ring is jailed for six years

Church-going Monica McCanch, 55, linked up with school governor Archibald Wood and retail manager Steven Horton to subject a 12-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy to a catalogue of abuse that included rape.

They submitted the youngsters to a six-hour ordeal, forcing them to perform sex acts and to watch as the adults engaged in sex.

Scroll down for more...

Last night the trio were starting jail sentences for a total of 42 offences with 17 more taken into consideration.

Horton, who was described by Judge Jeremy Carey at Maidstone Crown Court as the "ringleader", was jailed indefinitely.

McCanch, divorced from her grammar school teacher husband, and Wood, a former army major, were each sentenced to six years.

Their arrest sparked a global police operation that has led to 29 people in three continents being investigated, arrested or charged as part of Operation Starlight.

Another 200 suspected offenders are being sought.

In the UK it has led to six children being identified as victims of abuse or at serious risk of abuse.

Before her fall from grace McCanch, who lived in Kent, was a clinical trials manager for a pharmaceutical firm.

Wood, 60, was a Citizens Advice Bureau volunteer and a respected figure in Tavistock, Devon, where he lived with his wife Abina.

Horton, 44, who was a middle manager with Comet, was divorced and planning to marry his girlfriend Dawn Speed.

The offences only came to light after Miss Speed stumbled across e-mails on his computer and alerted police.

Horton, of Sittingbourne, in Kent, had lodged a posting in an Internet chatroom "advertising" for paedophiles who wanted to "educate" a boy and girl.

It was answered by Wood who, using the name "Jack", frequented paedophile chatrooms.

He was also in a bizarre sexual relationship with McCanch, who had become involved in a "swingers" group with both him and his wife.

Wood introduced himself and McCanch as a married couple "Jack and Liz".

"Jack" drove 170 miles to Fleet, Hampshire, meeting up with "Liz" McCanch at a service station then travelled to a house to meet Horton and the children.

The abuse is thought to be one of the first cases where children have been offered on the Internet in this way.

After being contacted by Horton's partner, Kent Police raided his home and found child abuse images on his computer.

Horton, who had arranged two more abuse sessions with other men, was charged with 28 offences, including two counts of rape.

Wood admitted nine offences including causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and distributing indecent images.

McCanch admitted charges of sexual activity with a child and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

In court yesterday she sobbed in the dock.

Police found that all three had hidden the abuse from their respective partners, who were all shattered by the discovery.

Detective Sergeant David Shipley, who led the operation, said in cases of child abuse there are no stereotypes.

He added: "Public perception of a paedophile is a dirty old man.

"While that is sometimes the case, a lot of those we come into contact with are professional-looking characters."