225 homes searched in just a week

POLICE arrested 131 online child sex suspects in just one week during a nationwide crackdown.

Among them were a former police officer, two volunteer police officers, five teachers, a children’s entertainer and 13 registered sex offenders.

They were held as 5 properties were searched amid fears more than 160 children were at risk from their activities. Investigators warned they were seeing a dramatic increase in offenders using hidden or encrypted software to commit crimes.

All the suspects were held for accessing indecent images of children online.

Police and child protection charities argue that viewing such images creates a demand for more content – and leads to more children being abused.

The National Crime Agency called on the internet industry to do more to help them cut the proliferation of appalling images online.

‘The technology exists for industry to design out these offences, to stop these images being shared,’ said spokesman Rob Jones.

‘While some online platforms have taken important steps to improve safety, we are asking them to take it to the next step, to innovate, to use their brightest minds, and to invest in preventing these online offences from happening in the first place.

‘That would significantly reduce the trauma to the victims whose images are shared, prevent other individuals from developing a sexual interest in children through accessing these images, and disrupt the methods used to access them. Securing agreement from industry to do this would represent a monumental landmark in protecting children.’

The suspects were arrested in a joint operation led by the NCA and involving forces across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Senior officers fear end-to-end encryption is becoming standard online – making it increasingly difficult to identify and target suspects.