SCOTT
04-15-2004, 08:19 AM
A HUGE police operation has rescued 102 kids in Britain from the clutches of evil paedophiles.
The boys and girls - aged between TWO and 15 - had been used by perverts for sick internet child porn.
Many of the youngsters were videoed and pictured being abused.
Their tormentors then sold or swapped the terrible images.
But police chiefs in charge of Operation Ore - a global crackdown on web filth - said they have saved the kids from the perv rings and put them in safe homes.
National Crime Squad Assistant Chief Constable Jim Gamble revealed the rescue figures to fellow officers who met in Birmingham yesterday for an update on the operation.
He said: "We cannot celebrate statistics like these but these children have been saved from their abusers and our work goes on.
"We're talking about children from two years of age to 14 and 15 who've been abused by individuals sometimes known to them and in a position of trust, like school teachers."
Operation Ore was launched two years ago.
The FBI gave UK cops the names of 7,200 Brit perverts who had accessed child porn sites.
Police here have worked through two thirds of the suspects. They have arrested 3,537 people.
Of those, 1,679 were charged and 1,230 convicted by the courts.
Mr Gamble said: "Those charged have been involved in the worst type of hands-on abuse."
NSPCC chief executive Mary Marsh welcomed news of the rescues last night, adding: "Each time an individual accesses an internet site to view images they are creating a demand for more children to be abused."
Home Office minister Paul Goggins said: "We believe a picture of child pornography is a picture of child abuse and court sentences should reflect public concern."
The boys and girls - aged between TWO and 15 - had been used by perverts for sick internet child porn.
Many of the youngsters were videoed and pictured being abused.
Their tormentors then sold or swapped the terrible images.
But police chiefs in charge of Operation Ore - a global crackdown on web filth - said they have saved the kids from the perv rings and put them in safe homes.
National Crime Squad Assistant Chief Constable Jim Gamble revealed the rescue figures to fellow officers who met in Birmingham yesterday for an update on the operation.
He said: "We cannot celebrate statistics like these but these children have been saved from their abusers and our work goes on.
"We're talking about children from two years of age to 14 and 15 who've been abused by individuals sometimes known to them and in a position of trust, like school teachers."
Operation Ore was launched two years ago.
The FBI gave UK cops the names of 7,200 Brit perverts who had accessed child porn sites.
Police here have worked through two thirds of the suspects. They have arrested 3,537 people.
Of those, 1,679 were charged and 1,230 convicted by the courts.
Mr Gamble said: "Those charged have been involved in the worst type of hands-on abuse."
NSPCC chief executive Mary Marsh welcomed news of the rescues last night, adding: "Each time an individual accesses an internet site to view images they are creating a demand for more children to be abused."
Home Office minister Paul Goggins said: "We believe a picture of child pornography is a picture of child abuse and court sentences should reflect public concern."