I am glad that law enforcement seems to be on top of the game lately. And that children in the child sexual abuse images are being found and found safe. Now onto their arduous journey of recovery from what they have survived. My thoughts and prayers are with them. Rosie
Officers from more than 40 police forces executed more than 143 search warrants in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the 48-hour operation led by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop).
Some 80 children were "safeguarded" following the raids. One in four were found at the properties searched by police. More than 30 cases were referred to child services. Most of the warrants related to image offences, including the possession and distribution of indecent pictures of children, said Ceop.
Among those arrested were a referee, a pathologist, Government employees, a firefighter, an outdoor activities instructor and a computer programmer. Known offenders who had breached the conditions of the sex offenders' register were also among the 78 people arrested in the dawn raids.
Andy Baker, deputy chief executive at Ceop, said the pictures on them would be scrutinised to see if the background revealed any clues to the identities of the victims. "Every image is a crime scene, we need to identify that crime scene," he said.
Ceop also published a report warning that anyone caught downloading child abuse images online poses a risk of committing physical sex attacks on children. The report said that one analysis showed 55% of paedophiles who possess indecent images also commit sexual offences against children.
Kate Fisher, a principal analyst at Ceop, said: "The images being downloaded are increasingly becoming more extreme, sadistic and violent, and feature increasingly younger children."
However, the severity and number of images held by offenders are not enough alone to assess the risk they pose or the sentence they should receive, the report said. Ceop urged police forces to prioritise the investigation of anyone caught with child abuse images who has easy access to children.
Referrals to Ceop increased by 181% between April last year and March, figures showed. The report, entitled A Picture Of Abuse, said it was "increasingly unachievable" for officers to investigate such cases.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/2012/06/14/76-arrested-in-web-paedophile-raids-91466-31185927/
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