Toronto police help British authorities smash global pedophile ring, 700 arrested

Associated Press via Sun Media ^ | 2007-06-18 | (wire service)

[Clive]

LONDON (AP) — British police, with aid from U.S. investigators, have shattered a global Internet pedophile ring, rescuing 31 children and rounding up more than 700 suspects worldwide, authorities said Monday.

Some 200 suspects are based in Britain, said the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center, a government agency. Of the 31 children, some only a few months old, more than 15 were in Britain, the center said.

British authorities would not break down where the other suspects or children came from. A Canadian official said 24 Canadians were arrested and seven children rescued, but added that the time period was longer than the more than 10 months the British said their portion of the investigation lasted. U.S. officials declined to comment because their investigation is continuing.

The ring was traced to an Internet chat room called “Kids the Light of Our Lives” that featured images of children being subjected to horrific sexual abuse — including streaming live videos.

Authorities said they used surveillance tactics normally used against terrorism suspects and drug traffickers to infiltrate the pedophile ring at its highest level.

Officials also said the United States, Canada and Australia were Britain’s main

partners in the investigation, which involved agencies from 35 countries.

Investigators with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said they could not immediately comment on the arrests because the U.S. investigation, spanning at least 12 states, is ongoing.

Toronto police conducted online surveillance along with British police, said Detective Sgt. Kim Scanlan of the Toronto police sex crimes unit. She said 24 Canadians were arrested and seven Canadian children rescued since late 2005.

“Every arrest we make we seize computers and information so there are a number of ongoing investigations,” Scanlan said. “There’s just been great cooperation. It’s a good day, but it’s one day out of many.”

The host of the chat room, Timothy David Martyn Cox, 27, of Buxhall, who used the online identity “Son of God,” admitted to nine counts of possessing and distributing indecent images, authorities said.

Cox was given an indeterminate jail sentence Monday at a court in eastern England. That means he will remain in prison until authorities determine he is no longer a threat to children.

“Today’s verdict serves as a powerful warning to those using the Internet to facilitate the sexual exploitation of children,” said Jim Gamble, the child protection center’s chief executive.

Cox was identified after intelligence linking the chat room to Britain was passed on to the child protection center by Canadian authorities in August 2006. The center is an agency under the purview of the Home Office that is made up of officers with special experience in tracking and prosecuting sex offenders.

After Cox’s arrest on Sept. 28, 2006, British, Canadian and Australian authorities were able to infiltrate the chat room and collect evidence on the other members. Officers posed as contributors and even pretended to be Cox, running the chat room for 10 days.

At no point did officers distribute illegal images.

Forensic teams examining Cox’s computer found 75,960 indecent and explicit images in addition to evidence that he had supplied 11,491 images to other site users.

A man described as Cox’s lieutenant, Gordon Mackintosh, tried to resurrect the chat room in January. Authorities in Britain, Canada, Australia and the U.S. again infiltrated the operation.

Upon Mackintosh’s arrest in January, authorities assumed his identity online and ran the chat room for three days while collecting information on offenders who traded images.

Mackintosh, 33, has pleaded guilty to 27 charges of making, possessing and distributing indecent images and videos. He is awaiting sentencing.

[Albion Wilde]

I can understand why a man who's had a difficult time with women could develop unreasonable, even psychotic, anger towards all women, but why would one want to hurt little girls or boys?

It's often a "repetition compulsion" by someone who was abused in childhood. That said, I don't think that history should be a defense against wrongdoing.

[goldstategop]

That's why I favor the death penalty for child rapist monsters. One time, one strike and lights out forever!

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[nw_arizona_granny]

Ping.

[fanfan]

Canada ping.

Please send me a FReepmail to get on or off this Canada ping list.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

mailprintvotesmallerlarger Well a man come on the 6 oclock news Said somebodys been shot, somebodys been abused Somebody blew up a building Somebody stole a car Somebody got away Somebody didnt get too far yeah They didnt get too far Grandpappy told my pappy, back in my day, son A man had to answer for the wicked that he done Take all the rope in texas Find a tall oak tree, round up all of them bad boys Hang them high in the street for all the people to see that Chorus: Justice is the one thing you should always find You got to saddle up your boys You got to draw a hard line When the gun smoke settles well sing a victory tune Well all meet back at the local saloon Well raise up our glasses against evil forces Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds Weve got too much corruption, too much crime in the streets Its time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground Send em all to their maker and hell settle em down You can bet hell set em down cause http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/toby+keith/beer+for+my+horses_20138070.html I think this fits...

[A_perfect_lady]

Some of the children were only a few months old. Mind-blowing. I just don’t understand. And ultimately, I don’t think any explanation would erase my desire to force these people to their knees and just shoot them.

[Calpernia]

http://www.1010wins.com/pages/2445.php

Police Smash Global Pedophile Ring

Hundreds Nabbed in Pornography Sting

Jim Gamble, who heads the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center, says the arrests should send a clear message.

A team of international investigators infiltrated an Internet chat room used by pedophiles who streamed live videos of children being raped, rescuing 31 children and identifying more than 700 suspects worldwide.

Undercover officers in Britain, the U.S., Canada and Australia busted up the pedophile ring using surveillance techniques more commonly associated with fighting terrorism and organized crime.

The chat room, which was called “Kids the Light of Our Lives,” featured images, including live videos, of children - some only months old - being subjected to horrific sexual abuse, said Jim Gamble, chief executive of Britain’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center.

“You could go and if you were in the club, arrange a time and a place when online you could view a child being raped and brutalized in real time,” he said.

Police analyzed images and videos traded by the chat room’s members for the smallest clues that could help them identify, locate and rescue the victims.

More than 15 children were found in Britain, Gamble said, declining to give further details. A Canadian official said authorities there arrested 24 Canadians and rescued seven Canadian children as part of the probe. Four people have been arrested in Australia, including one who was previously convicted of child pornography charges, officials said Tuesday.

Describing it as “a massive leap forward,” Gamble said the investigation involved agencies from 35 countries. Investigators made the case public after the sentencing of ringleader Timothy David Martyn Cox on Monday.

Cox, 27, was given an indeterminate jail sentence, meaning he will remain in prison until authorities decide he is no longer a threat to children. One of his accomplices, Gordon Mackintosh, has pleaded guilty to 27 charges of making, possessing and distributing indecent images and videos. He is awaiting sentencing.

The probe began in Canada in the spring of 2005, then expanded internationally in August 2006 after Canadian officials tipped off authorities in London that they believed the chat room’s host was based in Britain.

“Every arrest we make we seize computers and information,” said Detective Sgt. Kim Scanlan, of the Toronto police sex crimes unit.

Working with their Canadian counterparts, British police infiltrated the chat room posing as contributors. They traced the host to a farmhouse in Buxhall, 90 miles northeast of London, where Cox lived with his parents and sister. He had operated the chat room out of his bedroom while working for the family’s microbrewery.

The evidence police collected in the probe documented shocking abuse, Gamble said.

“(This was) not sharing a historic video ... but a child brought into a room - on Web cam - and brutalized for the pleasure of some deviant individual who might not even be in the same country as that child,” Gamble said.

Cox had been a member of a U.S.-based online pedophile ring shut down by U.S. authorities in March 2006, Gamble said. His online identity, “Son of God,” was believed to be a reference to the host of the “Kiddypics” and “Kiddyvids” site in the U.S. case who adopted the username “G.O.D.”

Police arrested Cox on Sept. 28, charging him with nine offenses related to possessing and distributing indecent images of children. Forensic teams examining Cox’s computer found 75,960 indecent and explicit images and evidence that he had supplied 11,491 images to other site users.

But as Cox was taken from the house in handcuffs, police stepped up their operation. British and Canadian officers immediately assumed Cox’s identity and secretly ran the site for 10 days before shutting it down - gathering evidence on the chat room’s hundreds of members. Police at no point distributed illegal images, Gamble said.

Weeks later, British police saw the chat room had been resurrected. Working with Canadian, Australian and U.S. authorities in December, they again infiltrated the chat room, working around the clock. Authorities traced the new host to an apartment in Welwyn Garden City, 30 miles north of London, belonging to the 33-year-old Mackintosh, a manager at a video streaming company owned by the Italian Internet company Tiscali.

After he was arrested, police took over his identity and continued to run the chat room, collecting more evidence. Mackintosh told investigators that every few months he was overcome by guilt and would delete all his files, but he was addicted and would start downloading again, Gamble said. He had 5,167 indecent and explicit images and 392 indecent movie files on his computer when he was arrested.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to comment because their investigation is continuing in at least 12 states, which were not identified. Police in Germany are also investigating two men in connection with the ring, the country’s Federal Crime Office said.

It was unclear whether any of the rescued children had been reported missing, but authorities said the investigation was not linked to the widely publicized disappearance of Madeleine McCann, a 4-year-old British girl who vanished nearly two months ago in southern Portugal.

Gamble said he hoped the 10-month operation into the ring would act as a powerful warning.

“Anyone who even thinks about going online to share an image, to view an image, to arrange access to a child or to share live access to a child is now taking a hell of a chance,” Gamble said.

[Calpernia]

ping

[Calpernia]

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news_detail_pa.html?sku=11822011801776881-H0
Global paedophile ring smashed
19/06/07

Police have rescued at least 15 British children from horrific sex abuse after launching an audacious “sting” on a UK-based paedophile ring.

The kingpin of the vile internet chatroom - where perverts queued up to download images of children being raped - was handed a jail sentence which could see him stay behind bars for the rest of his life.

Suffolk-based brewer Timothy David Martin Cox was handed an indeterminate sentence at Ipswich Crown Court after one of the biggest ever crackdowns on online child abusers.

The minimum jail term set by the judge was just one year and seven months but he will only be released when he is no longer a danger to the public.

Cox hosted the website known as “Kids the Light of Our Lives”, and masqueraded behind the online identity “Son of God”. Judge Peter Thompson said some of the shocking images showed very young children being subjected to “sadistic” abuse.

In one case a girl aged about five was shown being raped, and in another a girl aged about three was being abused with a knife. Obsessive paedophile Cox was found to have nearly 76,000 images of children on his computer plus 1,100 videos which would have taken 316 hours to watch back-to-back.

There was also evidence that the 28-year-old bachelor had supplied nearly 11,500 images to other paedophiles. Cox sent an average of 200 images a day from his bedroom at the family farm at Buxhall, near Stowmarket. He lived with his parents, sister and 26-year-old girlfriend, working in the family’s microbrewery Cox > Holbrook, which brewed real ales with names such as Uncle Stan and Goodcock’s Winner.

Prosecutor Simon Spence said Cox led a double life, adding: “Some of these films are of users of the chat room actually abusing their own children and filming themselves, then posting it in the chatroom.”

Ceop’s Ian Robertson said outside court: “The amount of data that came out was massive.” Immediately after arresting Cox last September, undercover officers continued running the website to snare other users.

They placed a message that he had gone for his tea and would be back in 30 minutes to stop other members of the paedophile site becoming suspicious. Then they ran the chatroom under Cox’s online identities for 10 days to gather evidence on 700 other members of the ring around the world. Mr Robertson said about 200 of the suspects are based in the UK, and 31 children in all have been rescued from abuse.

[Calpernia]

http://www.ceop.gov.uk/news_items/article_20070618_ceop.htm
Monday June 18, 2007
Global Online Child Abuse Network Smashed - CEOP lead international operation into UK based paedophile ring

An online trading ground for indecent images of children and live exchanges of abuse has collapsed following an international operation led by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre

The last 10 months of this complex investigation has resulted in the co-ordination of law enforcement agencies from 35 different countries and their subsequent, ongoing investigations – intelligence from which indicates that there were more than 700 suspects worldwide. The UK branch of the investigation centres around 200 suspects, the majority of which are currently subject to active police enquiries at this time. Further information can not be released until these enquiries have concluded.

To date, the international operation has led to 31 children being rescued from abuse or positions of harm.

‘Kids the Light of Our Lives’ was an Internet chat room dedicated to the sexual exploitation of children. Hundreds of members worldwide used it to trade a range of material, including photographs and videos of children being subjected to sexual abuse and serious sexual assault.

The man behind the network has been convicted at Ipswich Crown Court and now awaits sentence.

27 year old Timothy David Martyn Cox hosted the website from his home address in Buxhall, masquerading behind the online identity ‘Son_of_god.’ (1) When trading, he used the name ‘I_do_it’.

Cox was identified after intelligence linking the chat room to the UK was passed to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre by Canadian partners within the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) last August.

On receiving this information, specialist officers immediately began enquiries to trace the host, using a range of techniques and undercover online activity. Cox was located and subsequently arrested by officers from Suffolk Constabulary on September 28 2006. This allowed uncover officers from the CEOP Centre to infiltrate the room and gather valuable evidence.

Over a period of ten days, officers from the CEOP Centre and Toronto Police conducted online surveillance. They were able to identify further suspects and secure vital information regarding potential victims, before closing down the site.

When Suffolk forensic teams examined Cox’s computer they found 75,960 indecent and explicit images in addition to evidence that he had supplied 11,491 images to other site users.

Cox was subsequently charged with 9 offences, relating to the Possession and Distribution of Indecent Images of Children.

In September last year, Gordon Mackintosh from Hertfordshire also became a key subject in the UK inquiry. The 33 year old attempted to resurrect ‘Kids the Light of our Lives’ following the Cox’s disappearance as Host. Officers from the CEOP Centre carried out extensive work to identify and locate the individual behind the usernames ‘silentblackheart and ‘lust4skoolgurls’. Alongside Hertfordshire Police, they arrested Mackintosh on January 9th 2007.

CEOP officers, alongside VGT partners from the Australian Federal Police, ICE (US Department of Homeland Security) and Toronto Police undertook 24 hour online surveillance to infiltrate the room for a second time and collate details of all the offenders attempting to trade material.

McIntosh’s computer was found to contain 5,167 indecent and explicit images of children, in addition to 392 indecent movie files. He pleaded guilty to 27 charges of making, possessing and distributing indecent images and movies. He awaits sentence.

“Today’s verdict serves as a powerful warning to those using the Internet to facilitate the sexual exploitation of children,” said Jim Gamble, CEO at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and Chairman of the Virtual Global Taskforce.

“From the apparent ‘safety’ of his home, Cox spent hours each day planning, promoting and encouraging the abuse and exploitation of innocent young victims. In doing so he provided a service to hundreds of like minded individuals, enabling those with a sexual interest in children to share indecent images and discuss further plans for abuse.

“Any individual who thinks they carry out such horrific activities undetected is in for a very rude awakening. The belief that the Internet provides anonymity is unfounded and for Cox and Mackintosh it has already proved to be a costly misconception.

“Thankfully both are behind bars today. As predators become increasing sophisticated in their use of the Internet for exploiting young people, so too do the techniques we use to detect them. We will continue to work alongside local police forces and our law enforcement partners worldwide, to track and prosecute those who prey on young victims and to protect greater numbers of children from harm.”

Ends
Notes to Editors:

(1) The user name ‘G.O.D’ was originally used by the host of US based chatroom’s ‘Kiddypics’ and ‘Kiddyvids’. The host, a 49 year old man from Tennessee, was arrested and the chat rooms were closed down in March 2006. This investigation was known as ‘Operation Wickerman’ which was initially led by Canadian Police.

* Enquiries by the CEOP Centre continue, in association with the Virtual Global Taskforce and law enforcement agencies in the UK and abroad.
* The remaining suspects within this investigation are subject to active police enquiries at this time. Further details can not be disclosed for operational reasons.
* The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre works in both online and offline environments to protect children from sexual exploitation. Full information on all areas of work, as well as online safety messages and access to online reporting, can be found at www.ceop.gov.uk.
* The CEOP Centre is affiliated to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and powers are derived from the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. It is based in Pimlico, London with developing outreach channels to all areas of both domestic and international policing. Specialist faculties are dedicated to operations, intelligence, education and victim identification.
* The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre is a member of the Virtual Global Taskforce. Other members include the Australian Federal Police, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Interpol. Further information is available at www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com
* Visit www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com to download a short film on the work of VGT
* To view and download operational footage please visit http://video.hosting.idnet.net/vgt.zip
* Download Press Pack

CHILD ABUSE IMAGES, NOT ‘CHILD PORNOGRAPHY’

Use of the phrase ‘child pornography’ actually works to the advantage of child sex abusers:

* It indicates legitimacy and compliance on the part of the victim and therefore legality on the part of the abuser
* It conjures up images of children posing in ‘provocative’ positions, rather than suffering horrific abuse
* Every photograph captures an actual situation where a child has been abused. This is not pornography.
* For further information please contact the Communications Team at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre on 0870 000 3434 or 0207 238 2312 / 2366/ 2327.

[stainlessbanner]

bttt

[ReignOfError]

More important than the number of adults arrested was the number of children rescued.

Both are important.

Put these mf'ers away forever, and no more children will have to be rescued from them.

[ReignOfError]

I like the idea of bringing back the guillotine. Swift, certain, and with the right prep you can then harvest organs for transplant — something you can’t do with AC current or gas.

But absent a homicide, capital punishment is unlikely. I’d suggest a smaller guillotine, one that starts its drop around the navel and finishes its transit around the upper thigh.

[DancesWithCats]

More important than the number of adults arrested was the number of children rescued.

This is such a sad commentary on the state of our societies that this kind of sick and cruel behavior abounds worldwide. Thank God for the men and women who chased it down and caught 700 of the scuzzy beasts ... and may they continue to catch all the rest of the odd connections that are yet to be snagged.

The numbers are staggering ...

I could just lay down and cry for all the little ones who are daily being so horribly abused. The stories out of places like Malaysia, Indonesia etc. where white slavery, child prostitution and control by forcing drug addiction on these children is so prevalent are just so shocking.

... and HEY! a great big round of applause and kudos to our boys over in Iraq today for busting up that nightmarish 'adoption' agency ! YAY! More rescued children who'd been awfully used and abused while the operators are getting fatter and fatter. Disgusting!

[Bonaparte]

"Put the monsters away down forever."

There. It's fixed.

[eleni121]

It’s obvious to many here that molesting children is the most heinous of crimes but the psychiatric community and their comrades in many fields (some churches, criminal justice) has medicalized this horror. The American Psychiatric Association defines it as a disease called “pedophilia.” They do not believe it is a crime. Diseases are biological processes that happens to bodies and minds.

The whole discussion has become a bottomless source of confusion and corruption.

You can’t put “down” a sick person!

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thank you...bump....

[Global2010]

Send the guilty on a one way ocean cruise on the “Millstone/Neck” Liner.

[MondoQueen]

“I think one source is ready availability of pornography, especially if people are exposed to it when young. I have never looked at pornography, even when I was growing up, because I understood even then that it could be habit forming, and once in the mind hard to get out.”

I totally agree with you. Even reading about it causes nightmares for me. There is a man in town, about 60, who was president of the Chamber of Commerce, on the village board, and president of the church council, who was arrested on pedophile charges and is currently in jail. I still don’t understand that.

[Bonaparte]

You can’t put “down” a sick person!

Unless that person's name is Terri Schiavo.