25 July 2006
Thousands of child sex abuse images taken offline as eastern european crime gang arrested in dawn raids
Tuesday 25 July. Dawn raids in five UK police regions have this morning seen the arrest of 13 men and women all suspected of being connected with pay-per-view websites offering images of child sex abuse.
3 of those arrested were individuals suspected of masterminding the provision of the sites while the remainder were all suspected users of the service.
The operation was the first nationwide attack to be led by the UK’s dedicated organisation focused on fighting child sex abuse – the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre since it was launched in April of this year.
It is also the first time that arrests have been made in the UK after investigations into pay-per-view online services.
The move is also the first tangible result following the setting up last month of the CEOP Centre’s dedicated financial investigation team – a specialist unit within CEOP sponsored by VISA Europe.
Arrests were made in London, Wiltshire, Surrey, Kent and within the Greater Manchester area.
Jim Warnock heads up CEOP’s dedicated operational response team:
Getting to the heart of any large scale criminal organisation involves complex and painstaking investigation. Add to that the international element of this particular swoop and the extra burden of tracing financial online transactions and this was a particularly intricate operation.
What this morning shows is that we are saying enough is enough and with new legislative powers coupled with specialist, dedicated investigators we can and we will root out those who hide behind complex smokescreens. Now we will work to track all the profits made from this illegal service as well as assess the images to make sure all the children involved are now safe from harm.
Ends
Notes to Editors
1. The CEOP Centre works in both online and offline environments and full information on all areas of work as well as online safety messages and access to online reporting can be found at www.ceop.gov.uk.
2. The CEOP Centre is affiliated to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and powers are derived from the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. It is based in Pimlico, London with developing outreach channels to all areas of both domestic and international policing as well as industry and specialist support and educational faculties.
For further information contact:
Clive Michel
CEOP Press Office
0870 000 3434
07899 064 333