Top detective says thousands more children face suffering in clutches of suspected paedophiles
Kate O'Hara
Crime Correspondent
THE biggest operation ever mounted to crack down on Internet child porn only highlighted the "tip of the iceberg" one of the most senior officers involved said yesterday.
As Operation Ore draws to an end, with only a handful of cases still going through the courts in Yorkshire, the detective who headed the operation in West Yorkshire said there were thousands more suspected paedophiles out there who must be tracked do
wn to save children from abuse. Det Supt Graham Shaw said the operation had only targeted people who used a single website, which had been running for a short period of time.
Det Supt Shaw said: "The Americans policed it and we ended up getting all those names, but just imagine all those other sites in all the other countries in the world where people will have gone instead.
"What we achieved was great, the success rate for Operation Ore was in the region of 60 to 80 per cent, but without a doubt it is just the tip of the iceberg.
"These were just one lot of people who felt safe enough to register their credit card details," he added.
A total of 7,250 people were identified in this country as a result of the inquiry, many of them in Yorkshire.
West Yorkshire Police made 127 arrests and charged 51 people. Forty have been sentenced and 33 cautioned.
North Yorkshire Police searched 53 premises, seizing more than 100 computers and thousands of CDs, floppy disks and videos. Officers made 43 arrests, from which 23 people have been charged or received official cautions.
South Yorkshire Police seized more than 80 computers after searching 69 premises. Sixty-six people were arrested, with 23 charged. All but one have been convicted in court. A further 18 were cautioned.
Humberside Police have made 26 arrests so far and 17 people have been charged and convicted. Six more people received cautions.
Det Supt Shaw said the 11 officers who were involved in the operation in West Yorkshire were all offered counselling in confidence to help deal with the sickening images they had seen.
He added that the difficult work was crucial because it saved children from abuse in the long run.
Operation Ore was first launched in this country in May 2002 following an investigation by the US Postal Inspection Service into Landslide Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas – an Internet site selling adult pornography and images of child abuse.
Backed by the FBI, the investigation revealed customers around the world. The National Crime Squad became responsible for following up leads in Britain.
People identified included lawyers, businessmen, civil servants and well-known faces in the media.
Det Supt Shaw said that just because police work on Operation Ore had finished, the work against Internet paedophilia continued.
"We want to warn these people that they can and will be prosecuted. They should be looking over their shoulder and be ready for an early morning call," he said.
"This is not a victimless crime. The children are being abused in order to make cash.
"Those who pay to watch are not just people having a quick look at naughty images. What they are taking part in is giving the abusers money and handing them an excuse to make more images of child abuse."
He added that paedophiles were using more advanced technology all the time to try and escape being caught, but that police were up to speed with the same technology and ready to take action.
"Operation Ore raised the profile of this crime, and we now have a force-wide policy.
"We're better able than ever to deal with the next generation that comes along."
kate.o'hara@ypn.co.uk
