Police waging war on perverts Disturbing work for police catching online paedophiles

POLICE in Leicestershire are waging war on internet paedophiles – but the work is so disturbing it had a hardened detective in tears after she saw one video.

Since then Detective Constable Louisa Letts has used that feeling to get as many perverts locked away as possible.

Speaking to sister paper Leicester Mercury she said investigating sex offenders was the last thing she wanted to do when she joined the force.

She got a taste of what it would be like to work in one of the most challenging areas of policing a few years ago when she was investigating a man who was grooming girls and young women online.

“He got a really hefty sentence for grooming more than 250 girls and I’d found it really rewarding dealing with that investigation,” she said.

“I thought ‘this is what Polit (Paedophile and Online Investigatino Team) does every day’.

“I’d done eight years or so dealing with burglary and robbery, so I decided to apply to work here.

“The first job I dealt with here was a man who had been viewing indecent images of babies.

“I prepared myself, but the first video I saw, I don’t think I will ever get that image out of my head.

“I went home and I cried and my husband asked me if I was sure I was in the right department.

“I came back into the office the next day and my motivation was to get this person prosecuted and ensure victims were safe.

“I’ve even had colleagues in other departments say ‘I don’t know how you can do what you do – how do you not lose your temper with someone sitting in an interview room with someone who has committed these offences?

“That man is in prison now. That’s my focus – getting people like him put away and safeguard- ing children.

“Invariably, families are devastated to find their partners are doing this. “Often, partners had no idea. “I get a lot of satisfaction from helping them find some kind of support and look to the future.

“We do get support and counselling and everyone here knows each other’s role and we can turn to each other for support and advice if something does upset you.

“There are some jobs which affect you more than others and there are times when things play on my mind, but that’s always been the case for me as a detective.

“I have a very supportive family and a dog I take on long walks. I wish people would stop using the phrase ‘child pornography’.

“What I investigate is not pornography, it is images of child abuse. Images of the rape of a baby can never be classified as pornography.”