Jim Gamble, the chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre has warned paedophiles who use the Internet that they will be tracked down and brought before the courts. The warning comes as CEOP figures reveal that the number of suspects arrested during the last year has trebled to 297, with 131 children protected from abuse as a direct result. Taking a tip from the FBI, ten of these offenders who fell into the highest possible risk category were caught after details were posted on the CEOP 'most wanted' website. If further icing were needed on the CEOP cake, a recipe that is less than two years old remember, officers have also managed to infiltrate and dismantle six international paedophile rings after working with other child protection agencies.
The success of this UK based agency really should not be underestimated, it has examined almost one million images of child sex abuse and built up a database of intelligence about offenders as a result. What's more, it has been able to not only identify a number of the victims of abuse from these images but also help to save them from further acts of abuse. This success shows in the number of reports it has received from the public during the last year, 5812 which represents an increase of 76% over the previous year. With 2600 police officers and social workers given training in child abuse matters, and more than 1.7 million kids educated by way of the Thinkuknow programme, CEOP is proving to be a force to be reckoned with.
Talking to Sky News Jim Gamble said that "By us all working together 131 children are now safeguarded from some of the worst abuse imaginable - that is true impact. So I hope offenders take note. Look at the ways in which together we are infiltrating your worlds, understanding your minds in order to limit deviant behaviour and I hope you think again. If you are abusing children then we, through applying collaborative skills, working with local and international forces, harnessing the commitment from all sectors, will track you down."
