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Global Child Sex Ring Busted

Arrests made in US, UK and Australia after two-year probe

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 6, 2008 11:00 AM CST
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(Newser) – Detectives coordinated by the FBI have busted a global pedophile ring and rescued eight children in the UK, reports the Guardian. Some 22 arrests have been made in the US, Britain and Australia, and 400,000 images of child abuse seized. Police, moving in after a two-year investigation, said the sex-abuse ring was one of the most sophisticated they have ever seen.

Investigators traced photos of eight children, aged 6 to 14, to addresses in the UK and rescued the victims. But they have some 400,000 seized images yet to analyze. "We're going to be at this for years, trying to find the victims," one officer said. An FBI official compared the growing security sophistication in child-abuse rings to the Mafia.

LCEO of CEOP Jim Gamble speaks during the press launch of the new Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Center on April 24, 2006 in London, England. The center helped in a recent FBI-coordinated effort to smash a global child sex abuse ring. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images
LCEO of CEOP Jim Gamble speaks during the press launch of the new Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Center on April 24, 2006 in London, England. The center helped in a recent FBI-coordinated...   (Getty Images)
A CEOP employee works in the main computer server room of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre in London, England. Experts from CEOP helped identify and rescue eight children from a child sex abuse ring. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
A CEOP employee works in the main computer server room of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre in London, England. Experts from CEOP helped identify and rescue eight children from...   (Getty Images)
In this file photo an FBI special agent speaks in Los Angeles behind a display of some items used to entice young children recovered from several suspected pedophiles. The FBI coordinated a recent effort to bust a sophisticated worldwide child sex abuse ring. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
In this file photo an FBI special agent speaks in Los Angeles behind a display of some items used to entice young children recovered from several suspected pedophiles. The FBI coordinated a recent effort...   (Associated Press)
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Australians make arrests, seize images
ABC News (Australia)

Global crackdown nets 14 Americans
CNN

Rescued British children now in care
Scottish Daily Record

 
FBI • children • pedophile • child abuse • child pornography • Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre

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