The BBC News and CNN reports that:
UK police have arrested 660 suspected pedophiles -- including doctors, teachers and scout leaders -- in a six-month operation spanning the country, the National Crime Agency said Wednesday.
The operation -- which targeted people accessing indecent images of children online -- involved 45 police forces across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
More than 400 children across the United Kingdom have been protected from harm as a result, the National Crime Agency said in a statement.
Suspects include a doctor with more than one million images of child porn, and a foster parent. The arrests are allegedly unrelated to emergency snooping powers and separate pedophile scandals in three of the UK's major political parties.
Related Stories
A one week emergency process to pass laws to fill the legal gap left behind by the striking down of the EU Data Retention Directive has resulted in the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill being passed in the House of Commons. The bill received support from all three major parties and was passed with a huge majority, despite criticism for the process and content of the bill:
"The government won a large majority of 387 on its proposed Commons timetable for the legislation, as MPs agreed by 436 votes to 49 to complete consideration of the bill in one day. MPs subsequently approved the general principles of the bill at second reading by 498 votes to 31, a government majority of 467. It later passed its third and final reading by a comparable margin of 416 votes."
During the very short lead time between the announcement of the bill and it's reading in the House of Commons, senior labour leadership expressed support for the content of the bill but reservations about the speed of the process. The Conservative MP David Davis made a speech in the House of Commons in which he also criticised the process, describing it as "entirely improper", likening it to "democratic banditry resonant of a rogue state", and accusing infighting between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat factions of the ruling coalition of causing the three month.
The legislation also drew fire from many civil liberties groups and commentators. The Open Rights Group post a scathing analysis of the bill criticising the emergency nature of the bill and asserting that the bill will significantly extend data retention scope and enforcement jurisdiction, to the contrary of previous assurances by Home Secretary Theresa May that the bill would closely replicate the powers of the withdrawn EU Data Retention Directive. Isabella Sankey, the Policy Director for Liberty commented on the group's blog that this was a closed-doors agreement between the party leaders designed to evade democratic oversight and pass legislation equivalent to the previously abandoned Draft Communications Data Bill, otherwise known as the "Snooper's Charter".
The bill has now moved on the House of Lords, where it must also be approved before it becomes law.
UPDATE 17-07-14: The bill has now cleared the House of Lords and is becoming law. The criticism to the timetable for passing it has resulted in the insertion into the bill by the opposition of a six-monthly requirement for the Interception of Communications Commissioner to report on usage of the powers granted and to ensure that "same as the EU DRD" does genuinely mean that. It also means the EU Court of Justice's assertion that the EU DRD "[entailed] a wide-ranging and particularly serious interference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the protection of personal data, without that interference being limited to what is strictly necessary" now applies to this new law as well.
(Score: 1) by poutine on Thursday July 17 2014, @08:53PM
Fine editing there lou.
(Score: 1) by azrael on Thursday July 17 2014, @09:32PM
Sorry!! Link fixed
-- Lou
(Score: 1) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 17 2014, @09:22PM
> The NCA said 431 children "in the care, custody or control" of the suspects
> had been protected as a result of the arrests.
>
> Of those, 127 were said to be at immediate risk of harm.
But how many were being abused? How many children were actually rescued?
Knowing the way these thing work out, maybe one or two. They always go after the easy targets while doing nothing to stop the actual producers and abusers but they do exaggerate the hell out of the risk of the people they round up.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 17 2014, @10:03PM
Given the careless way children are treated in such high-PR operations, I'd say the number of rescued kids is actually negative.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday July 17 2014, @11:13PM
Not to mention that they're very choosy about who they actually go after.
What ever happened to the five-thousand [deadlinelive.info] at the Pentagon who were downloading kiddy porn, some with fleet and DoD e-mail addresses?
(Score: 4, Informative) by Hairyfeet on Friday July 18 2014, @03:29AM
I'll probably get hate from the "think of the children!" crowd but frankly the entire way the law is handled? makes no fucking sense. in CP and ONLY in CP as far as I know is pictures of a crime equal to committing the crime. I mean can you imagine getting an accessory to murder charge from watching a faces of death video? And now they have stretched the definition soooo fucking far one doesn't even have to have anything involving children or even actual real people, see the guy that got thrown in jail for manga or the guy that went to jail for a dirty Simpsons cartoon.
As someone who has two boys I'm all for protecting kids but lets face it, the laws have gotten all out of whack. I have a friend that joined the state crime lab to protect kids and is looking to get transferred out as he says they haven't busted an actual molester in ages, all they bust is socially retarded porn addicts that wouldn't do anything but hide in a corner if you stuck them in a room with a kid. he said one was so isolated he hadn't left his house since the late 90s and had to be tranced like an animal just to get him out the house. Seeing case after case like that of obviously mentally disturbed that needed mental help being thrown in prison for 50+ years by prosecutors that only wanted a bragging point on their run for governor was enough for him, he is bailing.
Talking to him has convinced me that like the drug war we are going about this all wrong, we need to not be chasing the social retards and porn addicts we need to be chasing the actual predators but what will make you fucking sick is that he says they can't get a dime to do THAT, nope that will cross state or country lines and then the prosecutor won't get credit, how will that help him become a congress critter or guv? can't have that. hearing him talk the whole thing is just a sick farce.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 3, Informative) by clone141166 on Friday July 18 2014, @04:20AM
There was a post previously on a related story that mentioned the documentary movie "Witch Hunt" (2008).
SN post: http://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?sid=2841&cid=67881/ [soylentnews.org]
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1196112/ [imdb.com]
It looked interesting so I watched it; it actually turned out to be very interesting. It is largely about how the police/district attorney at Bakersfield, CA fabricated a swathe of child abuse claims, manipulated children to accuse their parents, obtained convictions and actually falsely imprisoned 36 people for a decade or more each before their cases were finally appealed and overturned.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Hairyfeet on Friday July 18 2014, @06:05AM
Well according to my friend he says the only real predators they even catch anymore are ones where the kids just go to the cops because they spend all their time chasing down some social retard that downloaded a 30+ year old pic of CP off some P2P. he is a good man that wants nothing more than to help kids so when he says its all bullshit? I believe the man.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 18 2014, @09:12AM
I don't know, but I could imagine that possession of a snuff video could also be illegal.
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Friday July 18 2014, @11:46AM
The one in-depth study of people convicted of possessing child porn that had no record for molestation unfortunately indicated that most actually had molested at least one child. From Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:
If you look into news stories on the kind of people convicted for having child porn, you'll find that it's extremely rare for them stand out as abnormal -- they're usually employed and have friends like anyone else, even a romantic partner. Maybe your friend's department was focused on only the absolute lowest-hanging fruit, but the folks he was seeing arrested don't appear to have been the norm.
PS. In case you didn't know, "social retard" (or even just "retard") is a pretty damn hateful term to those of us with a condition that it's often used to refer to. It's especially unpleasant as it's commonly used by violent bullies, abusers or other hostile types that target people like us, much as they'd use "ni**er" or "fa**ot" if attacking a black or gay/effeminate-male person. So please do try to avoid it; having SN suddenly feel like a hostile kind of place is not pleasant.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 18 2014, @01:06PM
"74% of the men denied molesting anyone when they were sentenced. However, by the end of treatment, 85% had admitted to sexually molesting a child at least once."
I can imagine full cooperation: "Yeah I admit whatever you want will you let me out earlier now?" ;)
Let's do a similar study on those who watch "normal" porn. Maybe at the start one of these "normal porn" addicts might not consider certain actions on a friendly female without explicit permission as sexual molestation, but maybe after treatment and with "new awareness" he might? For example that "yawn and stretch" move that I've seen done in some US movies - is it really a popular move? See also: http://www.wikihow.com/Sneak-Your-Arm-Around-Your-Date [wikihow.com]
(Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Saturday July 19 2014, @02:07AM
Well just remember if you fire anybody that does a study that doesn't give you the "correct" results? You can get pretty much any conclusion you want. We have seen that just recently with the feds cutting off the researcher that had a positive outcome when it came to pot, so unless we see some evidence that such a hot button issue isn't being "steered" by the PTB I'd take any studies with a BIG grain of salt.
As I said I have a friend that is actual boots on the ground and according to him the porn addicts they are catching couldn't get it up with another living creature in the room and try their damnedest not to have contact with ANYBODY, much less kids. He said its beyond easy to tell them from the actual predators, the predators try to get themselves into positions where they can have contact with kids while the porn addicts do their best to cut contact with anybody. The porn addicts also follow an easy to spot pattern, first their porn is regular, then fetish like gangbangs and tranny, then s&m and pain, then finally CP and bestiality. He says the reason why is they watch sooooo much porn that like a junkie they get such an immunity to it they need a harder and harder "dose" to get it up. he says it would probably be trivial to teach these guys how to integrate into normal society and have normal relationships but there is no publicity in that so instead we taxpayers get to pay a hundred grand a year for life to keep 'em in solitary as they will get ripped apart in general pop.
And I'm sorry if you don't like the terms, that is what the cops call it and frankly the fact that you can talk on here like a normal person shows that you probably aren't one. I've never been for politically correct or sugar coating shit so if it offends you feel free to hit the foe button and you'l never have to read it again but i don't change for nobody, sorry.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 1) by In hydraulis on Friday July 18 2014, @04:24PM
I knew I'd read this before.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2398554&cid=37218448 [slashdot.org]
No harm done though. Just a little deja vu.
(Score: 1) by frojack on Thursday July 17 2014, @09:28PM
But still no doubt related to the ongoing and routine snooping.
Probably Parallel Construction is alive and well in the UK just as it is in the US, although its probably less necessary in the UK.
Its interesting that there were a precise number of children quoted as "protected" among huge stashes of images. That sounds like they were following these guys for a long time, because it would have take days to analyze an just seized stash of photos.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 18 2014, @07:04AM
Actually, it likely is unrelated to that, simply because they just don't need to use it. Allow me to explain.
Child pornography rings are broken by law enforcement penetration of such rings. These rings do their trading of nasty shit in the dark web where, for example, Silk Road operates. However, that does not mean that they don't get their "material" from other sources, sources that are far less secure and safe. Law enforcement operates stings to catch these people. When they catch one, they will attempt to drill the guy's (it's usually but not always a man) mind as well as do a lot of forensics on his computer, usually in exchange for a lighter sentence. Through this investigation they get a way into the ring and from there they start their investigation into that.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Bot on Thursday July 17 2014, @09:53PM
Heard this on TV, I thought it was related to this scandal [telegraph.co.uk] and thought "wow, those high ranking pedo rings I keep hearing about, they are not untouchable after all". Now I get that it's a separate operation that involves "suspects". Might be a coincidence, or the topic being discussed prompted some operation to mature faster, but, if the net came for those lesser pedos as a diversion, it is a perfect one.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Thursday July 17 2014, @10:22PM
What are the quotes for?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 2) by Bot on Friday July 18 2014, @05:41PM
I was quoting the word of the summary, so... I used quotes :D
Account abandoned.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by mojo chan on Friday July 18 2014, @07:33AM
The whole thing stinks. The timing is far too convenient, being the very week when the new data retention laws are being debated. The last time there were mass arrests it turned out that most of them were innocent. Even many of the ones who were convicted were just pressured into "confessing", and quite a few of the accused committed suicide. The police have never even acknowledged the mistakes really, or apologised.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 18 2014, @01:52PM
And I'm sure even for those who were later officially found innocent, life did suck afterwards anyway. After all, a suspicion tends to stick; many people will suspect they just hid the evidence well enough, or just had a very good lawyer who got them out of it anyway. And of course, should there ever be another raid for CP, those will be among the first suspects, since after all they were already investigated for it. Which will just reinforce any prejudice against them ("wait, they are investigated for it again? There must be something true about the accusations!").
(Score: 4, Informative) by PinkyGigglebrain on Thursday July 17 2014, @10:33PM
I always have reservations about these kind of dragnet operations. They tend to be more witch hunts than anything substantial. Operation Ore in 2002 arrested thousands of suspects, most only on the basis of the use of the suspect's credit card at a known CP site. Most of those cases were the result of credit card fraud and had nothing to do with the person they actually charged.
Out of 3,744 arrests, only 1,848 were actually charged, less than half. If they didn't have enough to file charges why arrest them in the first place? 1,451 convictions of those charged, with most being for possession of CP, not actual direct sexual assault on children. Of course even those who were totally blameless, the ones who had no CP in their possession or had had their credit cards info stolen are now permanently on record as having been investigated for sexual offensive related to children. Which will turn up in background checks for security clearances and some jobs for the rest of their lives. Sure you can explain what happened and show that the charges were dropped but it doesn't help much.
I totally agree that anyone who gets off on seeing some prepubescent boy/girl get molested needs serious help but rather than waste time/money going after the consumers the focus should be on taking down the producers, the ones actually harming children. And the argument that prosecuting the consumers of CP will cut down on the amount being generated is total BS. Just look at how successful that policy has been with eliminating illegal drugs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ore [wikipedia.org]
Its ironic that in the USA you can get 12+ years for having a single picture of a 13 year old having consensual sex with her 15 year old boyfriend. But if you actually raped a 13 year old you at worst get a few years. And if you can afford a really good lawyer you could walk away with only 90 days.
If we really want to "Think of the Children" then we need to stop the knee jerk responses and really think about what the problem is and how to solve it. Most child molesters were themselves molested as children, most can be helped with counseling/therapy, some can't and are real dangers to children. We need to help those we can and stop those we can't. Ruining some blokes life because he had an iffy image in his browser cache or because his CC info was stolen doesn't do anything to protect children.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 18 2014, @03:17AM
In California, the rape of a child under 14 is a life sentence. Get your facts straight, sir.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Friday July 18 2014, @06:26AM
Thank you for the update on California laws, unfortunately the last I heard is that it is not the same for most states. And it would only apply if your were actually convicted of raping a child under the age of 14 in California. As I pointed out all you would need is a good lawyer to only get 90 days.
case in point.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Polanski_sexual_abuse_case [wikipedia.org]
Though that was a long time ago, laws change.
And my original point still stands that you can get more jail time having a picture than actually doing the action shown in the picture. Only in California the girl might be 15 instead.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 18 2014, @09:56AM
Indeed, that is ancient history. The law has finally caught up with just how traumatic sexual abuse is to a child and the horrific and PERMANENT damage it does to the victim. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, I can testify to that myself. I'm still dealing with the PTSD it caused forty-five years after the event.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Friday July 18 2014, @08:05PM
I know full well the lingering damage that you speak of. My ex-Wife was rapped when she was 14 by her mothers boyfriend. When she told her mother about her mother didn't believe her, said if it happened it must have been her fault. I never got along well with my mother-in-law.
I was the one who had to deal with the flashbacks where she would wake up screaming in the night. I remember feeling helpless that I couldn't do anything, she couldn't hear me, if I tried to hold her she would think I was the molester and scream even more and try to hit me. So I couldn't do anything but watch and wait helplessly until she snapped out of it on her own and even then all I could do was hold her until she stopped crying.
I learned what i could about what I could/couldn't do, tried to be supporting, tried to get her to see a therapist, but there was always some excuse why she couldn't go. Things finally fell apart between us and I had to deal with finding out that was cheating on me and leaving me for some guy she had met 3 months before. I warned her that she should be careful around the guy, there was something that was raising caution flags for me even before I found out about what was going on. There were other issues that contributed to the divorce, money, job, some emotional baggage we both had,etc., and I fully accept my share of the blame but looking back the thing that soured the relationship for me was the constant "I'm a victim" mentality she had. After 7 years of that and then finding out about her affair, and her pregnancy (definitely not mine, was tested) I signed the papers,
But you want to know the really sick part of all this.
She went on to stay with that guy for something like 6 years, had 2 children by him.
Then she found out the that the guy she said was the best thing that ever happened to her, the guy that she could trust completely, had been molesting their children, a 6 year old boy and 4 year old girl at the time.
So the cycle continues.
by the way, maybe you should think about getting a SN account, the more registered, and posting readers it has the better. And a statement carries more weight if you know the person saying it has the courage and conviction to put their name on it. Posting as AC tends to get your comment discounted as trolling more often than not. No matter how informative or insightful it might be.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."