This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
Canada: 
Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has announced to have arrested around 660 suspected paedophiles in an unprecedented six month operation targeting people accessing child abuse images online and involving 45 police forces across the U.K.
NCA have also revealed that among the arrested individuals were teachers, medical staff, former police officers, a social services worker and scout leader.
According to a report published by NCA, the biggest crackdown that took place in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland led to the arrests of hundreds of suspects with unsupervised access to children in the course of their work.
Of the 660, 39 people were Registered Sex Offenders but the majority of those arrested had not previously come to law enforcement’s attention.
It is understood that the investigation has been kept quiet before now in order to protect children, identify offenders and secure evidence.
The massive investigation led to the safeguard of 431 children who were in the “care, custody or control” of the suspects, including 127 who were identified as being at serious risk of harm.
The NCA and its partners have refused to reveal the methods they used to track down suspects with the aim to use the same strategies again in the future for locating criminals.
The decision on charging the arrested suspects has not yet been made.
NCA Deputy Director General Phil Gormley has said: “Over the past six months we have seen unprecedented levels of cooperation to deliver this result.
“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.
“Some of the people who start by accessing indecent images online go on to abuse children directly. So the operation is not only about catching people who have already offended – it is about influencing potential offenders before they cross that line.
“We want those offenders to know that the internet is not a safe anonymous space for accessing indecent images, that they leave a digital footprint, and that law enforcement will find it.”
Article viewed on Oye! Times at www.oyetimes.com.
Be the first to comment