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| 660 arrest over accessing online child abuse images | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| More than 600 suspected paedophiles have been arrested as part of a six-month operation targeting people accessing child abuse images online. | More than 600 suspected paedophiles have been arrested as part of a six-month operation targeting people accessing child abuse images online. |
| The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the 660 arrested included doctors, teachers, scout leaders, care workers and former police officers. | |
| More than 400 children have been protected as a result, the agency said. | |
| Arrests were made across the UK and the majority of those held had no previous contact with police. | |
| The NCA said 39 were registered sex offenders. | |
| Charges already brought range from possessing indecent images of children to serious sexual assault. | |
| The NCA stressed that none of those arrested is a serving or former MP or member of the Government. | |
| Indecent images | |
| NCA deputy director general Phil Gormley said: "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." | |
| The investigation involved 45 police forces across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and saw "unprecedented level of co-operation," the NCA added. | |
| Officers have searched 833 properties and examined 9,172 computers, phones and hard drives. | |
| The NCA then created "intelligence packages" on suspects and sent them to police forces across Britain. | |
| Targeted offenders | |
| Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the national policing lead for child protection and abuse investigations, said: "During this operation, we've targeted offenders accessing child abuse images. | |
| "Police must continue to use a range of investigative techniques targeting all forms of abuse if we going to protect children and bring offenders to justice. | |
| "Chief officers are committed using all the tools available to them because nothing is more important in policing than protecting vulnerable people". |