UK police arrest 660 suspected paedophiles

UK police arrest 660 suspected paedophiles
National Crime Agency detains suspected child abusers, including doctors and teachers, and takes more than 400 children into care

More than 600 suspected paedophiles, including doctors and teachers, have been arrested across Britain after a six-month investigation led by the National Crime Agency.

The agency, dubbed Britain's FBI, announced on Wednesday it had arrested 660 suspected child abusers and taken more than 400 children into care in the first nationwide investigation of its kind.

Of the 660 arrested, 39 were registered sex offenders but the vast majority of suspected paedophiles were off the police's radar. Those arrested include doctors, teachers, scout leaders, care workers and former police officers.

The operation, which had remained secret until Wednesday, targeted people accessing indecent images of children online.

Phil Gormley, the NCA deputy director general, said: "This is the first time the UK has had the capability to coordinate a single targeted operation of this nature.

"Over the past six months we have seen unprecedented levels of cooperation to deliver this result."

One of those arrested and subsequently charged was a doctor who allegedly kept more than 1m images of child abuse on his computers and had arranged to meet boys.

In another case, a foster carer with no previous convictions or allegations of offending was caring for a vulnerable child when he was arrested. Four computers and one phone have been seized by police and the suspect has attempted serious self-harm, detectives said.

Gormley said the police operation was about influencing potential offenders before they "cross the line" from accessing indecent images to directly sexually abusing children.

"Our aim was to protect children who were victims of, or might be at risk of, sexual exploitation. A child is victimised not only when they are abused and an image is taken. They are re-victimised every time that image is viewed by someone," he said.

"We want those offenders to know thay the interner is not a safe anonymous space for accessing indecent images, that they leave a digital footprint, and that law enforcement will find it."

Chief constable Simon Bailey, the national policing lead for child protection and abuse investigations, said the vast majority of forces in England and Wales were dealing with an unprecedented increase in the number of reports of child sexual abuse.

He said: "Sexual abuse is a complex crime taking many forms. Forces are investigating exploitation of children and young people by groups and gangs, non-recent abuse including large-scale investigations into abuse in institutions over many years and sexusal abuse by parents and family members.

"During this operation we've targeted offenders accessing child abuse images. Police must continue to use a range of investigative techniques targeting all forms of abuse if we are going to protect children and bring offenders to justice. Chief officers are committed using all the tools available to them because nothing is more important in policing than protecting vulnerable people."

Another suspect admitted when interviewed by police that he had viewed child abuse images for three decades, since he was 16. The man also admitted that he travelled to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand "for sexual purposes".

Detectives said that one suspect was part of an online group that shared films in which he abused a child, including footage featuring "the most serious form of abuse against very young children".

Another suspect, whom police described as a registered and violent sexual offender, was already being prosecuted over the rape of a 13-year-old girl when police officers discovered a stash of child abuse images at his home. The images displayed a wide range of abuse, police said, ranging from "erotic posing through to the most severe forms of abuse".

Greg McGill, the head of organised crime for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: "These abhorrent offences only contribute to the cycle of harm suffered by the victims in such cases. Specialist CPS prosecutors continue to work with the NCA, police partners and other relevant agencies in the fight against child sexual abuse and exploitation.

"We are committed to helping safeguard young people and, wherever we are able to, we will prosecute where there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest."

Donald Findlater, the director of research and development at the Lucy Faithfull Foundation and Stop it Now!, said: "The Stop it Now sexual abuse prevention line is taking an increasing number of calls from men who are concerned about their online behaviour as well as from their families and friends. Thousands of men have called following their arrest for possession of indecent images of children. Thousands of (mostly) women have called because of a partner's arrest or simply because of a concern about their partner's sexual behaviour towards children."

The Stop it Now helpline provides confidential advice, support and help to try to keep children safe. It supports those who have offended online to take responsibility for abusive behaviour and advises their family and friends on how to manage future risk.

Findlater said: "However many are arrested for possession of indecent images, there are hundreds of thousands more who have viewed such images and have not yet been arrested.

"We urge all such men – young and old alike – to contact the helpline for help to stop their illegal and harmful behaviour.

"Not only do children continue to be harmed by this inappropriate use of their images, but also the offender risks losing friends, family, job, reputation and more should their offending come to light. Call 0808 1000 900 for confidential help before it is too late."

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/16/660-suspected-paedophiles-arrested-uk


FGS!!!!! Damn and blast people like this and the harm they do!

Are you talking about the police, or the suspected paedophiles Sassy?

Also, could we have this thread moved to General News?

Well it's sickening that there are so many but such good news that so many have been arrested.

A sort of bittersweet victory.

eddie wrote:Well it's sickening that there are so many but such good news that so many have been arrested.

A sort of bittersweet victory.

Nobody has been found guilty yet eddie.

Or, we don't know whether anybody has.

BigAndy9 wrote:

eddie wrote:Well it's sickening that there are so many but such good news that so many have been arrested.

A sort of bittersweet victory.

Nobody has been found guilty yet eddie.

Or, we don't know whether anybody has.

Yes Andy I know. But they didn't just arrest people for no reason did they?
They must've had some kind of crap,on their pcs or something.
They've been watched for ages?

Police rarely arrest the wrong person do they nowadays?

eddie wrote:

BigAndy9 wrote:


Nobody has been found guilty yet eddie.

Or, we don't know whether anybody has.

Yes Andy I know. But they didn't just arrest people for no reason did they?
They must've had some kind of crap,on their pcs or something.
They've been watched for ages?

Police rarely arrest the wrong person do they nowadays?

Really?

Are you sure?

I don't know eddie - i guess i'll take your word for it.

According to the news on tv tonight, 45 police forces have been working on this, have all the computer records, can show how they are linked up, passing round the videos of the children being abused. There are doctors, policeman, fosterparents, and all of them have had the evidence from their computers taken.

It always seems very strange to me that the first person to rush out and defend these people is BA.

Sassy wrote:According to the news on tv tonight, 45 police forces have been working on this, have all the computer records, can show how they are linked up, passing round the videos of the children being abused.   There are doctors, policeman, fosterparents, and all of them have had the evidence from their computers taken.

It always seems very strange to me that the first person to rush out and defend these people is BA.

And how many have been found guilty?

What a bloody disgrace!

A policeman involved in the operation said viewing the filth that was on their computers had really affected those that had to watch it to document it and try and track down the children to rescue them.

*post removed due to spam*

Admin team

smelly, i have just reported the post by BigMama, which is the correct route to go down - please don't post it everywhere - it is bloody offensive to every other poster on here.

I understand your anger.

This was a major inter force operation. Im sure we can all be pleased that so many children have been identified and saved from further exploitation. Over 400 children taken into care

Nems wrote:This was a major inter force operation. Im sure we can all be pleased that so many children have been identified and saved from further exploitation. Over 400 children taken into care

Yeah, regardless of the arrests or whether anybody is convicted, that 400 kids rescued is something to be proud of.

Ben_Reilly wrote:

Nems wrote:This was a major inter force operation. Im sure we can all be pleased that so many children have been identified and saved from further exploitation. Over 400 children taken into care

Yeah, regardless of the arrests or whether anybody is convicted, that 400 kids rescued is something to be proud of.

Oh I think with the computer evidence there will be plenty of convictions. One of the arrested was a foster carer who had had numerous children fostered with him.

Mistakes are made.

TWO decades ago, as the morning sun kissed the shores of a Scottish island, a squad of strangers grabbed nine sleepy-eyed youngsters from their beds.

Amid astonishing allegations of ritual sex abuse, police and social workers targeted four family homes where they were convinced children had fallen prey to a devil-worshipping paedophile ring.

What unfolded on tiny South Ronaldsay in Orkney that morning in early 1991 triggered Scotland's biggest case of alleged satanic child abuse.

And it led to some of the darkest days in the history of the island.

Although the allegations were eventually dismissed and ridiculed as completely false, it still remains known as the Orkney child abuse scandal.

Yep, but they did not have the computer evidence.

Andy I think police forces who work undercover and for a long time on things like this, in this day and age, are probably pretty much spot on when they make arrests.

We shall see.

The reason they rescued those children was because they were being abused on the films that were on the computers of the people arrested and that's how they tracked the children and found them.

Sassy wrote:The reason they rescued those children was because they were being abused on the films that were on the computers of the people arrested.

And thank God for that x

Absolutely!

Sassy wrote:Yep, but they did not have the computer evidence.

Would you like me to go and find a shed load of cases where they had computer evidence Sassy?

BigAndy9 wrote:

Sassy wrote:Yep, but they did not have the computer evidence.

Would you like me to go and find a shed load of cases where they had computer evidence Sassy?

You mean cases were the evidence on the computers helped to track down children and rescue them?

Sassy wrote:

BigAndy9 wrote:


Would you like me to go and find a shed load of cases where they had computer evidence Sassy?

You mean cases were the evidence on the computers helped to track down children and rescue them?

Quite the opposite.

BigAndy9 wrote:

Sassy wrote:

You mean cases were the evidence on the computers helped to track down children and rescue them?

Quite the opposite.

But in this case the evidence on the computers tracked down the children that were being abused. If there were no films of them being abused, they wouldn't have been able to have been tracked down. So the evidence on the computers was the abuse. No getting away from that, so quite what your point is I have no idea.

Sassy wrote:

BigAndy9 wrote:


Quite the opposite.

But in this case the evidence on the computers tracked down the children that were being abused.   If there were no films of them being abused, they wouldn't have been able to have been tracked down.   So the evidence on the computers was the abuse.   No getting away from that, so quite what your point is I have no idea.

Well, my only point all along has been nobody has been found guilty yet and i'll await the court cases.

Anybody who commits crimes, i hope they are caught and sentenced, forever. For any crime!

BigAndy9 wrote:

Sassy wrote:

But in this case the evidence on the computers tracked down the children that were being abused.   If there were no films of them being abused, they wouldn't have been able to have been tracked down.   So the evidence on the computers was the abuse.   No getting away from that, so quite what your point is I have no idea.

Well, my only point all along has been nobody has been found guilty yet and i'll await the court cases.

Anybody who commits crimes, i hope they are caught and sentenced, forever.  For any crime!

Good, and it seems they have excellent evidence having confiscated the computers and rescued the children.

According to HF, "common sense" would be to give these people about a month in jail.

Ben_Reilly wrote:According to HF, "common sense" would be to give these people about a month in jail.

A month? He'd make it that long?   

Sassy wrote:
UK police arrest 660 suspected paedophiles
National Crime Agency detains suspected child abusers, including doctors and teachers, and takes more than 400 children into care

More than 600 suspected paedophiles, including doctors and teachers, have been arrested across Britain after a six-month investigation led by the National Crime Agency.

The agency, dubbed Britain's FBI, announced on Wednesday it had arrested 660 suspected child abusers and taken more than 400 children into care in the first nationwide investigation of its kind.

Of the 660 arrested, 39 were registered sex offenders but the vast majority of suspected paedophiles were off the police's radar. Those arrested include doctors, teachers, scout leaders, care workers and former police officers.

The operation, which had remained secret until Wednesday, targeted people accessing indecent images of children online.

Phil Gormley, the NCA deputy director general, said: "This is the first time the UK has had the capability to coordinate a single targeted operation of this nature.

"Over the past six months we have seen unprecedented levels of cooperation to deliver this result."

One of those arrested and subsequently charged was a doctor who allegedly kept more than 1m images of child abuse on his computers and had arranged to meet boys.

In another case, a foster carer with no previous convictions or allegations of offending was caring for a vulnerable child when he was arrested. Four computers and one phone have been seized by police and the suspect has attempted serious self-harm, detectives said.

Gormley said the police operation was about influencing potential offenders before they "cross the line" from accessing indecent images to directly sexually abusing children.

"Our aim was to protect children who were victims of, or might be at risk of, sexual exploitation. A child is victimised not only when they are abused and an image is taken. They are re-victimised every time that image is viewed by someone," he said.

"We want those offenders to know thay the interner is not a safe anonymous space for accessing indecent images, that they leave a digital footprint, and that law enforcement will find it."

Chief constable Simon Bailey, the national policing lead for child protection and abuse investigations, said the vast majority of forces in England and Wales were dealing with an unprecedented increase in the number of reports of child sexual abuse.

He said: "Sexual abuse is a complex crime taking many forms. Forces are investigating exploitation of children and young people by groups and gangs, non-recent abuse including large-scale investigations into abuse in institutions over many years and sexusal abuse by parents and family members.

"During this operation we've targeted offenders accessing child abuse images. Police must continue to use a range of investigative techniques targeting all forms of abuse if we are going to protect children and bring offenders to justice. Chief officers are committed using all the tools available to them because nothing is more important in policing than protecting vulnerable people."

Another suspect admitted when interviewed by police that he had viewed child abuse images for three decades, since he was 16. The man also admitted that he travelled to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand "for sexual purposes".

Detectives said that one suspect was part of an online group that shared films in which he abused a child, including footage featuring "the most serious form of abuse against very young children".

Another suspect, whom police described as a registered and violent sexual offender, was already being prosecuted over the rape of a 13-year-old girl when police officers discovered a stash of child abuse images at his home. The images displayed a wide range of abuse, police said, ranging from "erotic posing through to the most severe forms of abuse".

Greg McGill, the head of organised crime for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: "These abhorrent offences only contribute to the cycle of harm suffered by the victims in such cases. Specialist CPS prosecutors continue to work with the NCA, police partners and other relevant agencies in the fight against child sexual abuse and exploitation.

"We are committed to helping safeguard young people and, wherever we are able to, we will prosecute where there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest."

Donald Findlater, the director of research and development at the Lucy Faithfull Foundation and Stop it Now!, said: "The Stop it Now sexual abuse prevention line is taking an increasing number of calls from men who are concerned about their online behaviour as well as from their families and friends. Thousands of men have called following their arrest for possession of indecent images of children. Thousands of (mostly) women have called because of a partner's arrest or simply because of a concern about their partner's sexual behaviour towards children."

The Stop it Now helpline provides confidential advice, support and help to try to keep children safe. It supports those who have offended online to take responsibility for abusive behaviour and advises their family and friends on how to manage future risk.

Findlater said: "However many are arrested for possession of indecent images, there are hundreds of thousands more who have viewed such images and have not yet been arrested.

"We urge all such men – young and old alike – to contact the helpline for help to stop their illegal and harmful behaviour.

"Not only do children continue to be harmed by this inappropriate use of their images, but also the offender risks losing friends, family, job, reputation and more should their offending come to light. Call 0808 1000 900 for confidential help before it is too late."

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/16/660-suspected-paedophiles-arrested-uk


FGS!!!!!   Damn and blast people like this and the harm they do!

excellent news, does it say how many of them read the book that said it was ok to assault babies and god won't mind...

And of course if the judge gives them a lenient sentence you'll agree and think its common sense. So you obviously think it's ok.

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:excellent news, does it say how many of them read the book that said it was ok to assault babies and god won't mind...

No, I don't think many of them were Catholics, though.

Ben_Reilly wrote:

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:excellent news, does it say how many of them read the book that said it was ok to assault babies and god won't mind...

No, I don't think many of them were Catholics, though.

i don't think the bible condones assaulting babies i think it's the other one, you know the tolerant one...

Bang! Another dent in the floor.

Sassy wrote:Bang!   Another dent in the floor.

you are going to start wearing a bra and then that wouldn't keep happening....  

Your face must be a real, real mess by now. Guess you like hurting yourself.