Child abuse probe finds more than 500 victims

Crime: First national operation of its kind by police in Scotland

Police found more than 30 million pictures involving youngsters being abused and identified more than 500 victims in Scotland’s first national operation to tackle online child sex abuse.

Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham said the six-week Operation Lattise showed that online abuse was a “national threat”, with victims ranging from just three years old to 18.

So far, 77 people have been arrested as a result of the work – including six registered sex offenders and four people who were regarded as being in a “position of trust”.

Of the 523 “victims or potential victims”, 122 have been referred to child protection services.

More than 390 charges have been brought so far, Police Scotland said, including rape, grooming, sexual extortion and indecent communication with children, as well as drugs offences, possession of a firearm and bestiality.

The operation, which took place between June 6 and July 15, focused on the distribution, possession and sharing of indecent images of children, online grooming, the live-streaming of sexual abuse and the sexual extortion of youngsters over the internet.

Mr Graham said: “The key message coming out of this is to raise awareness about the extent of online abuse and to make sure both children and young people, and parents and carers, know how to keep themselves or vulnerable children safe.”

He added: “Child sexual abuse, including exploitation, takes place solely because of decisions made on the parts of abusers and we know that child sexual abuse is a national threat.

“The reality is that it is happening now not only across Scotland but increasingly across the world to children of all ages from infants to teenagers.

“The impact of online child sexual abuse can be wide-ranging but have long-lasting, life-changing effects and when we’re talking about the sharing of images we’re not just talking about indecent images of nude or naked children, we might be talking about the sexual assault of children, about the rape and sexual torture of a child.

“We’re talking about the grooming of a child for sexual purposes, people who have an intention to meet children and to commit serious sexual offences against them – horrifically, the live-streaming of children being sexually abused from across the world, sexual extortion of children and communicating indecently with a child for sexual purposes.

“There’s an evolving and deeply concerning threat posed by predatory sex offenders, given that these offences can be perpetrated online at the touch of a button.”

Mr Graham continued: “I’ve got a simple message for perpetrators – you will be caught, the internet doesn’t offer anonymity and every contact through some sort of online interaction does leave a trace, which can ultimately be directed back to an individual.”