Scarborough, Harrogate and Whitby arrests in massive child sex dragnet

Officers from North and East Yorkshire, among more than 40 police forces, executed more than 141 search warrants in the 48-hour operation led by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

A 40-year-old man from Scarborough was arrested and charged with engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, distributing an indecent photograph and possession of an indecent image. He was due to appear at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court today.

A 57-year-old man from Harrogate, a 52-year-old man from Stokesley, and a 54-year-old man from the Whitby area were also arrested and later released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Detective Chief Inspector Nigel Costello, head of North Yorkshire Police’s Protecting Vulnerable Persons Unit, said: “We have executed four warrants in the county this week which has led to the seizure of computer equipment, associated material and the arrest of four men, one of whom has been charged to court.”

Humberside Police confirmed a 44-year-old man was arrested in New Waltham, North East Lincolnshire. He was later released on bail.

Some 80 children were “safeguarded” following the raids. One in four were found at the properties searched by police.

Most of the warrants related to image offences, including the possession and distribution of indecent images of children, Ceop said.

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 Offender’s Register were also arrested.

Ceop today 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.

Andy Baker, deputy chief executive at Ceop, said: “It is clear that those who possess indecent images also pose a significant risk to children and understanding and managing that risk is not an easy undertaking.

“However, when we bring together the latest intelligence picture, nationally co-ordinated police action and operational support from our colleagues in the Serious Organised Crime Agency, we are making the UK a more hostile place for those who are seeking to exploit our children.”

Ceop called for the authorities to look beyond the quantity and severity of the images, adding that a full risk assessment should be considered before a judge hands down any sentence.

Ms Fisher said the dramatic increase in images being downloaded, and the cuts to police resources, meant officers struggled with the workload but stressed that the notion that any case may result in the identification of a victim should be at the forefront of every investigation.

She added: “The levels of austerity and the caseload of indecent images of children is unprecedented. A quick and timely investigation for each case is increasingly unrealistic. Victim identification is the key element.”

Almost 100 case studies from 34 forces found offenders who both possessed child abuse images and attacked children were “almost exclusively white males”, most aged between 19 and 45.

One offender was found with 2.5 million still and moving images.

Mr Baker said: “This is an exceptional number of images but it does not necessarily mean that person will go on to commit contact offences.”

Those not in work, and possibly therefore those with high levels of internet usage, those working in schools or care work, and those in manual and manufacturing jobs made up most of the sample, the report said.

In 85% of cases, offenders looking at indecent images of children did so at home, with the rest looking at images mainly at work.

The majority lived with a spouse or partner and of that group, more than half were living with children.

From the 97 offenders in the study, 246 victims of contact abuse were identified.

Referrals to Ceop increased by 181% between April last year and March, figures showed.

The report said: “This point in time has the potential to be a golden age for child protection, but the evolution of technology is likely to make the internet an increasingly difficult place to investigate.

“The predicted dramatic rise in work volumes will require a fresh look at policing priorities and the resources allocated to this area of policing.”

A 43-year-old man from Bexhill, East Sussex, was arrested by officers from the Paedophile On-Line Investigation Team (POLIT) of Sussex Police yesterday on suspicion of distribution of indecent images of children.

Officers seized computer equipment from his home and the man was later released on conditional bail until December 12 while inquiries continue, including forensic examination of computer material, a Sussex Police spokesman said.

The Sussex officers were supported by officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), who are investigating intelligence that indecent images of children have been exchanged through email with people in the United States, he said.

The spokesman said there were no allegations of any actual contact offending at this time, although the computer material is yet to be fully examined. He added that there was no evidence to suggest that any of the images were of local children.

The Sussex POLIT, which was established in July 2008, acts as the specific point of contact for all suspected paedophile online offences in the county.

Detective Superintendent Nev Kemp said: “This area of policing is particularly difficult not only due to the nature of the images officers have to view, but also to the devious electronic methods the criminals use to try to conceal their offending across the web.

“Since its creation the team has dealt with over 400 cases. On average we have at any one time around 60 active cases, 40 suspects on bail or charged, and 20 initial referrals under intelligence progression prior to any arrest.

“We have viewed and removed from circulation millions of images, all deeply offensive and insulting to children, and many of them of the most sickening type.

“In doing this we have helped the worldwide fight against this evil trade and have also helped safeguard thousands of children not only in Sussex but worldwide.

“Most of the offenders circulate and re-circulate images they have found elsewhere and we must never forget that every such image is by definition an image of a child being abused and its very existence helps fuel the demand.

“In addition, some others have also committed specific offences against children themselves, either by inciting them to commit indecent acts online or by direct physical contact.

“This is a continual battle against the abusers but it is also an area of policing where there is now a really close cooperation with law enforcement across the country and across the world.”

The report, entitled “A Picture of Abuse”, said it was “increasingly unachievable” for officers to investigate such cases.

“In a perfect world all IIOC (indecent images of children) possession cases would be subject to a comprehensive, quick-time investigation as soon as intelligence comes to the attention of law enforcement.

“However, in a time where resource is sparse and priorities continually modified, this has become increasingly unachievable.”

It warned: “There is a clear correlation between IIOC offending and contact sexual offending against children although causation cannot be established.

“Anyone who possesses IIOC poses a risk of committing contact sexual offences against children.

“Cases where it has been identified that an IIOC possession suspect has access to children should be actioned as an immediate priority.”

Access to children was a “key factor in the assessment of an offender’s risk” and the link between possessing the images and carrying out sexual attacks “highlights the need to consider each possession offender as a potential contact offender to some extent”, the Ceop report found.

The findings come after a watchdog claimed that serious child abuse was rife across England, saying that girls as young as 11 “expect” to have to perform sex acts on rows of boys for up to two hours at a time in parts of London.

Deputy children’s commissioner Sue Berelowitz told MPs her in-depth study of the problem suggested there “isn’t a town, village or hamlet in which children are not being sexually exploited”.

Jon Brown, head of the NSPCC’s sexual abuse programme, said: “This supports research the NSPCC carried out last year which revealed one in three of those convicted of possessing child abuse images has also committed other serious sexual offences against children.”

He added: “It’s a very worrying situation and more research is needed on the most effective punishment and treatment of offenders caught viewing child abuse pictures.

“Trying to stop the terrible trade in these images is obviously a huge task. But it mustn’t be seen in isolation. It’s part of a much bigger sexual abuse problem.

“And we must never forget that these images are abuse in themselves and often very young children, including babies, are being assaulted and raped so these pictures can be produced.”

Officers from Ceop, SOCA and 40 police forces in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales raided houses at 6.30am on June 12 and 13.

In video footage of one of the raids, officers in plain clothes can be seen placing laptop computers into evidence bags.

Mr Baker said they would have seized computers, USB storage devices and external hard drives, digital cameras and any other items capable of storing pictures.

He added 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.

Four men were arrested in Hampshire yesterday as part of the national operation, according to Hampshire Police.

Arrested on suspicion of distributing indecent images of children in the raids on four properties were a 54-year-old man from Gosport, a 43-year-old man from Waterlooville, a 55-year-old man from Petersfield and a 49-year-old man from Chandlers Ford.

The warrants involved a total of 25 officers from Hampshire Constabulary’s public protection and other specialist departments led by the Paedophile and Online Investigation Team.

Detective Inspector Victoria Dennis said: “The joined up approach of police across the country is a warning to anyone who thinks that they can get away with taking, viewing, downloading or distributing indecent images of children.

“Every image is evidence that a child somewhere in the world is suffering abuse. Sharing these images and encouraging others to abuse children is a crime.

“This is an international problem and it’s important that local police forces work together with national and international agencies to address it.”

Christian Sjoberg, chief executive of NetClean, aims to prevent the spread of child sexual abuse content.

He said: “It is clear from the Ceop report that offenders who download abusive images and videos pose a real risk to communities.

“As police cuts hit home and case volumes increase, crime fighting agents attempting to tackle the problem are finding their resources stretched to the limits.

“There is no doubt that advanced technology and sophisticated internet use makes the job of child protection increasingly complex but technology can also hold the key to finding and preventing those who create and distribute this kind of material.

“As this report shows, the sharing and distribution of abuse images is not the problem, it’s a symptom of a darker societal issue which manifests itself as physical abuse of children in our society. By following the images, and through that, those who create and exchange them we can identify threats and protect our children.

“Effectively tracking the viewing and distribution of these images across the internet is a way to find perpetrators and prevent further abuse of the vulnerable. However for this to happen everyone needs to make it impossible for offenders to hide in the shadows and ensure this cannot happen, on any network.”

In Kent, four men were arrested on suspicion of downloading indecent images.

Warrants were executed in Maidstone, Gillingham, Rochester and Herne Bay.

Kent Police said they have all been freed on police bail, except the man detained in Herne Bay who was this afternoon still being held in custody.

Detective Sergeant David Shipley said: “Over the past two days Kent Police have executed four warrants at homes in Kent, all of which resulted in the arrest of adult males who are believed to be actively engaged in downloading indecent images.

“We remain dedicated to targeting those individuals who possess indecent images of children and we were keen to support this national operation organised by Ceop who provide a valuable contribution to the fight against child abuse.”