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September 24, 2005
No hiding place for child porn monsters
NSPCC and police set up unit to track down the perverts.
ABUSERS who peddle child pornography on the internet are to be targeted by a new cyber-investgations unit.
Project E-Spy, launched today, is a collaboration between the police and the NSPCC's Specialist Investigation Service and will track both the perpetrators and the victims of child porn anywhere in the world.
At the heart of the crime-cracking unit is an NSPCC investigator from Yorkshire who has played a key role in bringing countless paedophiles and child abusers to justice in the county while helping victims come to terms with their ordeal.
Dawn – whose surname has been withheld for operational reasons – is set to lend her expertise to Greater Manchester Police on the first project in the UK to combine the expertise of the GMP's abusive images unit with the child protection skills of the NSPCC.
Dawn worked on major investigations such as Operation Ore and Operation Clyde which led to 11 children's homes, two residential schools in Kirklees and a residential centre in Richmond being investigated.
Her involvement in E-Spy is further confirmation of the growing potency of the internet.
"The use of the internet for accessing abusive images has grown rapidly with the use of computers. The ease with which people can access these images has made a big difference.
"You couldn't go into a shop before and ask for pictures of a three-year-old. Now anybody can go onto a computer and be who they are. So if you're someone with a sexual interest in children you can log on and find these images and people with similar ideas."
A major aspect of the team's work is tracking down victims and those who photograph and then post the images on the net.
"These children have been abused horrifically. E-Spy is about stopping that happening.
"What we look at is 'let's get this child out of whatever situation they're in, whatever country they're in'. You'd be amazed what information you can get from a photograph."
The team also executes warrants on people downloading the images and supporting the families. "It's so sad as quite a few have wives and children of their own. We see teenagers up to older people. There are no stereotypes.
"The reactions we get range from the hysterical to complete shock. The excuses range from curiosity to computer viruses and complete denial. But you can see when someone has deliberately gone onto a site.
"Eighteen months' worth of images is not someone looking out of curiosity."
geoff.fox@ypn.co.uk
'Behind the images are real children who have suffered. We must make sure they are protected'
In 1995, before to the growth of the internet, GMP seized 12 indecent images of children. This has grown to least a million in the last year, the vast majority on the internet.
Assistant Chief Constable Dave Whatton of Greater Manchester Police said: "The making and trading of child abuse images recognises no geographical boundaries. GMP have linked up with NSPCC to ensure images are tracked and intelligence shared no matter where the abuse originates."
He added: "This is a global problem and we are committed to working together to protect vulnerable children and bring paedophiles to justice.
"Many of the offenders who use the internet to access and circulate such images, naively believe that they can do so anonymously. But I want to send a clear message to them, that they will be caught and brought to justice."
NSPCC director of services for children and young people, Wes Cuell said: "The internet has made it much easier for paedophiles to organise and exchange images that fuel the horrific market in child abuse. Behind the images are real children who have suffered. We must make sure that children are protected and families supported.
"It is important to get convictions, but also vital to make sure children are safe in the community. If an offender who has abused children is also a sports coach, teacher or childminder we must find out if there are any other children affected.
Posted by Nealus at September 24, 2005 06:55 PM
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