Police smash global live child sex pedophile ring

[TXCharlie]

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/140916.html

By D'ARCY DORAN
Associated Press Writer

AP Photo/Suffolk Constabulary, HO


This is an image released by Britain's Suffolk Police Constabulary on Monday June 18, 2007 of Timothy David Martyn Cox, who was convicted of possessing and distributing indecent images and was handed an indeterminate jail sentence Monday at Ipswich Crown Court, in eastern England. Police 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 the United Kingdom, said the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center, or CEOP. 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 of the abuse.
Police smash global pedophile ring

LONDON -- 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 since late 2005.

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.

[Tony]

I think they arrested 4 Aussies over this. They said you needed a pass key/number to have access to the site.

Good work all round, hope the courts actually give this slime the penalties we all think they should get!!!

[Lo523]

Excellent work by all police officers involved in this operation. May God help those poor children.

The punishment is never going to fit this crime, unless it's a slow and painful death.

[Tony]

Excellent work by all police officers involved in this operation. May God help those poor children.

The punishment is never going to fit this crime, unless it's a slow and painful death.

. . . like being eaten alive by rodents, or having their skin peeled off inch by inch . .

some of these rock spiders do meet justice in the jail!!!

[Cst.SB]

Our ICE stands for Integrated Child Exploitation Team, and as much as I would like to work on it, I don't think I can. I think the images, and even more so, the live webcam stuff would kill me.

A friends wife was on it for a year, and now two years later see is still in counseling.

My hats off too all of you that do that kinda work. The worlds a better place because of you.

[Tony]

Our ICE stands for Integrated Child Exploitation Team, and as much as I would like to work on it, I don't think I can. I think the images, and even more so, the live webcam stuff would kill me.

A friends wife was on it for a year, and now two years later see is still in counseling.

My hats off too all of you that do that kinda work. The worlds a better place because of you.

Like you I couldn't work in that type of squad, I'd have real troube not taking the scrote out the back and dealing out some pre-summary justice. I caught a molester back in the late 80's and nearly lost my job over it, I had young kids at the time.

And yes, you're right, we are very lucky there are those that can deal with it in a professional manner, unlike me.

[Willowdared]

They busted a similar ring two years ago in San Diego. In that ring, they also traded children with each other.



I say lobotomy, with no anesthetic.

[Cst.SB]

Like you I couldn't work in that type of squad, I'd have real troube not taking the scrote out the back and dealing out some pre-summary justice. I caught a molester back in the late 80's and nearly lost my job over it, I had young kids at the time.

And yes, you're right, we are very lucky there are those that can deal with it in a professional manner, unlike me.

I hear ya! My daughters are 7, 7, (twins) and 22 months, and that type of work would eat me alive.

[Tony]

They busted a similar ring two years ago in San Diego. In that ring, they also traded children with each other.



I say lobotomy, with no anesthetic.

. . with a blunt stick . . . . over and over . . maybe we could get together and get some new laws passed . . . with the appropriate penalty. Yes, I understand as a society, if we perpetrate violence against another, we have become less civilised, but for this type of crime, I'm happy to be labelled uncivilised.

I hear ya! My daughters are 7, 7, (twins) and 22 months, and that type of work would eat me alive.

Gee, you've got your hands full, saving up for the weddings??? Wait until they hit 14-16, see how the grey hair takes over then!!


.

[TXCharlie]

I hear ya! My daughters are 7, 7, (twins) and 22 months, and that type of work would eat me alive.

I would love that type of work - Just the THOUGHT of crucifying one of those scumbags makes me excited. I just wish I could start tonight, instead of having to wait 6 months to get out of Academy and whatever questionable employment prospects are awaiting me after that

[countybear]

Were I to comment, my response would be vulgar, violently-toned, sadistically slanted, obscenely worded, offensive, and hateful.

So, I'll just say... "Let justice be swift and decisive for all involved."

As far as the men and women who work dilligently to hunt these types of sub-humans, they store up an extra measure of rewards in heaven. I'd join them in the quest for justice for children without reservation.

[Tony]

On our nightly news they reported one of the Aussies, who's from Victoria, has already faced court and was sentenced to 7 months. This started with an arrest 2 years ago in Europe and 35 countries have worked together to smash the ring. The guy in the UK was the site owner from what I can gather.

7 MONTHS!!!

Justice must be seen to be done . . . I guess I'm just too old fashioned.

[Usaforcewife]

Were I to comment, my response would be vulgar, violently-toned, sadistically slanted, obscenely worded, offensive, and hateful.

So, I'll just say... "Let justice be swift and decisive for all involved."

As far as the men and women who work dilligently to hunt these types of sub-humans, they store up an extra measure of rewards in heaven. I'd join them in the quest for justice for children without reservation.

You and me both!!! I have been trying to get a web site like this takin down for years and have come face to face with the ACLU over this. The guy that runs this site seems to get aways with it . he post on this site about how you cant take him down and even provides the links for you to report him .

When i had my little show down with the ACLU i was told it was his right to talk about little girls and have pictures of them as well as post links to a site called boy lovers, two days later the head of the ACLU was arrested for child porn on his computer.

This problem is so wide spread it seems there is no end insite,

The things that i have seen will break your heart and cause you to go insane, and this is all happining in the good ol USA....

[Willowdared]

. . with a blunt stick . . . . over and over . . maybe we could get together and get some new laws passed . . . with the appropriate penalty. Yes, I understand as a society, if we perpetrate violence against another, we have become less civilised, but for this type of crime, I'm happy to be labelled uncivilised.

Well, if we have to go the civilized route......

Names, mug shots, home address and place of employment should be printed in the newspaper.

And include the crime as one that requires registering as a sex registrant.