In the News
Paedophile Networks Are Not Purely Fictional or Historical...
Paedophile Networks Are Not Purely Fictional or Historical...
This heinous crime is not a modern phenomenon, but the rise of the internet is.
Like minded individuals can can now easily connect and network using the latest technology, secure encryption and the dark web to hide their nefarious deeds while sharing their perverted images and videos.
Below you will find two relevant articles from the UK's newspapers July 2016 (here and here).
Like minded individuals can can now easily connect and network using the latest technology, secure encryption and the dark web to hide their nefarious deeds while sharing their perverted images and videos.
Below you will find two relevant articles from the UK's newspapers July 2016 (here and here).
Richard Huckle - ‘Britain’s worst-ever paedophile’
Make no mistake, much of what they do is child torture, of the worst kind, and often sickens those in law enforcement who have taken the brave decision to track them down.
Why brave?
Well, it is not so much that their lives are in grave danger from the networks who prey on children, the paedophile rings they aim to close down, but the psychological impact of the images and videos they have to watch while doing their jobs.
Some police officers experience a form of PTSD after working on such criminal investigations, many receive counselling.
If you have a moment then read this article from the UK's Guardian newspaper about Operation Argos, an Australian police investigation that captured Richard Huckle, Britain's worst ever child molester - a man who operated an online organisation not dissimilar to the fictional characters created for my novel The Hack.
This vile paedophile posed as a Christian missionary in SE Asia... The police captured him by infiltrating his network of 45,000 members - other perverts who had to upload images to maintain their membership. There will undoubtedly be more arrests, but I think it took a special kind of police officer to perform this sting operation: I take my hat off to them.
Why brave?
Well, it is not so much that their lives are in grave danger from the networks who prey on children, the paedophile rings they aim to close down, but the psychological impact of the images and videos they have to watch while doing their jobs.
Some police officers experience a form of PTSD after working on such criminal investigations, many receive counselling.
If you have a moment then read this article from the UK's Guardian newspaper about Operation Argos, an Australian police investigation that captured Richard Huckle, Britain's worst ever child molester - a man who operated an online organisation not dissimilar to the fictional characters created for my novel The Hack.
This vile paedophile posed as a Christian missionary in SE Asia... The police captured him by infiltrating his network of 45,000 members - other perverts who had to upload images to maintain their membership. There will undoubtedly be more arrests, but I think it took a special kind of police officer to perform this sting operation: I take my hat off to them.
The takeover:
How police ended up running a paedophile site
How police ended up running a paedophile site
Exclusive: the inside story of a police operation that secretly took over a child abuse forum in a six-month sting, and the stunning breakthrough that led them to snaring Richard Huckle, ‘Britain’s worst-ever paedophile’
by Michael Safi - From Guardian online, Wednesday 13 July 2016
It was one of the world’s largest and most secure paedophile networks – an online space where tens of thousands traded horror.
The website dealt in abuse; video and images of children, swapped and boasted about on a dark-web forum, accessible only through an encrypted browser.
Membership was tightly managed. Quiet accounts raised suspicion and could be suddenly terminated. Those who stayed had to upload new material frequently.
More than 45,000 people complied.
But what those thousands never realised, even as heavy users began to disappear, was that the site was being run by police.
For six months in 2014, inside a pale office block in the Australian city of Brisbane, an elite squad of detectives were administering the site: analysing images, monitoring conversations, connecting users with their crimes.
By the time they pulled the plug on the forum 85 children had been rescued and hundreds of people across the globe arrested.
Among them was Richard Huckle, a 30-year-old Briton living in Malaysia, one of the board’s most prolific members.
In June Huckle was sentenced to 22 life terms, one for each of the minors he was convicted of abusing. The children were mostly ethnic Indians from impoverished backgrounds, whose families’ trust he won by posing as a Christian missionary.
Police believe he had at least 169 other young victims. Huckle had diligently recorded their names in a ledger, detailing the acts he had performed with each one.
How he was tracked and arrested is a story of persistence, good fortune and an audacious half-year sting, which key figures inside the specialist police unit responsible, Taskforce Argos in Australia, have granted the Guardian access to share...
Continue reading the full article here
by Michael Safi - From Guardian online, Wednesday 13 July 2016
It was one of the world’s largest and most secure paedophile networks – an online space where tens of thousands traded horror.
The website dealt in abuse; video and images of children, swapped and boasted about on a dark-web forum, accessible only through an encrypted browser.
Membership was tightly managed. Quiet accounts raised suspicion and could be suddenly terminated. Those who stayed had to upload new material frequently.
More than 45,000 people complied.
But what those thousands never realised, even as heavy users began to disappear, was that the site was being run by police.
For six months in 2014, inside a pale office block in the Australian city of Brisbane, an elite squad of detectives were administering the site: analysing images, monitoring conversations, connecting users with their crimes.
By the time they pulled the plug on the forum 85 children had been rescued and hundreds of people across the globe arrested.
Among them was Richard Huckle, a 30-year-old Briton living in Malaysia, one of the board’s most prolific members.
In June Huckle was sentenced to 22 life terms, one for each of the minors he was convicted of abusing. The children were mostly ethnic Indians from impoverished backgrounds, whose families’ trust he won by posing as a Christian missionary.
Police believe he had at least 169 other young victims. Huckle had diligently recorded their names in a ledger, detailing the acts he had performed with each one.
How he was tracked and arrested is a story of persistence, good fortune and an audacious half-year sting, which key figures inside the specialist police unit responsible, Taskforce Argos in Australia, have granted the Guardian access to share...
Continue reading the full article here
VIP Paedophile Rings in the UK
Historic enquiries and Establishment/Police cover ups...
Cyril Smith abuse inquiry police threatened (Click image for link)
There have been a number of accusations of, and investigations into, VIP paedophile rings. The abuse of children in care by the powerful, Like Sir Cyril Smith MP, other politicians, Special Branch, celebrities and even government ministers, but few high profile names have been confirmed since Sir Jimmy Savile, OBE, friend to Prince Charles, first in line to the throne, was outed after his death, with just a handful given jail terms:
Rolf Harris, Stuart Hall and Max Clifford OBE.
The most difficult aspect of these historical abuse cases is getting a balance between believing those who claim to have been abused as vulnerable children, and our automatic scepticism when it comes to the rich, famous and powerful.
This is often compounded by the reaction of those closest to the perpetrators, who usually have no idea about their nefarious activities, and being unsuspecting, cannot conceive of being misled by those near and dear, or just revered, for year after year:
Rolf Harris, Stuart Hall and Max Clifford OBE.
The most difficult aspect of these historical abuse cases is getting a balance between believing those who claim to have been abused as vulnerable children, and our automatic scepticism when it comes to the rich, famous and powerful.
This is often compounded by the reaction of those closest to the perpetrators, who usually have no idea about their nefarious activities, and being unsuspecting, cannot conceive of being misled by those near and dear, or just revered, for year after year:
Many in power have accused the police of a witch hunt and tried to close the investigations down:
Sir Leon Britain was named as some suspected he deliberately 'lost' a comprehensive file regarding an extensive VIP paedophile ring when he was Home Secretary - in charge of the UK's police. (Incidentally, during his tenure there, the Home Office provided funds for the Paedophile Information Exchange.) Apparently he has 'no case to answer', especially as he is now deceased.
When a former Prime Minister was named as a suspect many senior Tory politicians claimed it was scandalous that his 'good name' was being smeared along with Brittan's due to 'malicious lies' involving historical abuse.
Sir Cliff Richard - a celebrity accused of paedophile activities who had his case dropped for insufficient evidence - is using the power of the courts to sue the BBC and the police for besmirching his good name. Of course, no one should be subjected to pillorying in public as one of the most detested sorts of criminal - unless and until they are proven guilty.
However, Sir Cliff and others who have demanded historic child sex abuse investigations should be shut down are ignoring the realities of what went on in the sixties, seventies an beyond.
This article from Britain's tabloid newspaper's online site, reporting on the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), gives a hint to the extent the tentacles of such VIP networks have reached. You can read the opening below and the full article here.
Sir Leon Britain was named as some suspected he deliberately 'lost' a comprehensive file regarding an extensive VIP paedophile ring when he was Home Secretary - in charge of the UK's police. (Incidentally, during his tenure there, the Home Office provided funds for the Paedophile Information Exchange.) Apparently he has 'no case to answer', especially as he is now deceased.
When a former Prime Minister was named as a suspect many senior Tory politicians claimed it was scandalous that his 'good name' was being smeared along with Brittan's due to 'malicious lies' involving historical abuse.
Sir Cliff Richard - a celebrity accused of paedophile activities who had his case dropped for insufficient evidence - is using the power of the courts to sue the BBC and the police for besmirching his good name. Of course, no one should be subjected to pillorying in public as one of the most detested sorts of criminal - unless and until they are proven guilty.
However, Sir Cliff and others who have demanded historic child sex abuse investigations should be shut down are ignoring the realities of what went on in the sixties, seventies an beyond.
This article from Britain's tabloid newspaper's online site, reporting on the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), gives a hint to the extent the tentacles of such VIP networks have reached. You can read the opening below and the full article here.
IPCC probe into alleged paedophile cover-ups by Met police is expanded as 16 more cases are added
By Tom Pettifor
The Daily Mirror online 11 July 2016
Sixteen fresh investigations have been launched into claims Scotland Yard covered up child sex abuse by VIPs and politicians, the police watchdog has revealed.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is now examining a total of 44 allegations of corruption in the handling of cases going back to the 1970s.
They include claims that special branch and senior police officers intervened to block investigations into former ministers.
The IPCC said they all involve “suppressing evidence, hindering or halting investigations, or covering up alleged offences because of the involvement of prominent individuals or police officers.”
The IPCC announced 16 more investigations into the Metropolitan Police’s handling of abuse claims, adding to 28 that were announced earlier this year.
Continue reading the full article here
The Daily Mirror online 11 July 2016
Sixteen fresh investigations have been launched into claims Scotland Yard covered up child sex abuse by VIPs and politicians, the police watchdog has revealed.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is now examining a total of 44 allegations of corruption in the handling of cases going back to the 1970s.
They include claims that special branch and senior police officers intervened to block investigations into former ministers.
The IPCC said they all involve “suppressing evidence, hindering or halting investigations, or covering up alleged offences because of the involvement of prominent individuals or police officers.”
The IPCC announced 16 more investigations into the Metropolitan Police’s handling of abuse claims, adding to 28 that were announced earlier this year.
Continue reading the full article here
