UK raids on Web porn suspects

LONDON, England -- Police have carried out their biggest crackdown on Internet child pornography after acting on 75 warrants.

A large number of computers were seized in the coordinated raids which took place across 34 UK districts.

The operation on Tuesday followed a six-month investigation by police forces under the Protection of Children Act, Greater Manchester Police said.

The operation, codenamed Magenta, was led jointly by officers from Hertfordshire Police's child protection and investigation unit and Greater Manchester Police's abusive images unit.

Police said at least 16 people, aged between 15 and 50, were arrested, including a teacher, a parking attendant and students.

The warrants gave officers permission to search homes or businesses, seize property and make arrests.

Investigators using specially developed software focused on paedophiles who use Internet chatrooms to exchange images of children.

The crackdown was part of a six-month investigation under the Protection of Children Act which pinpointed 44 people across Britain with suspicious profiles, police said.

"These included some disturbingly young people including a 13-year-old, and a scoutmaster who we then discovered had been abusing a child for four years," said Detective Inspector Terry Jones of Greater Manchester Police.

"We are really doing it to explore their lives and see if they are (harming) real kids."

Inspector Keith Tilley, head of the Hertfordshire police child protection and investigation unit said: "Today's nationwide operation should send out a loud message to those people who use chatrooms to trade in indecent images of children.

"Hertfordshire, along with other forces, will continue to work to identify and track down those individuals who believe the Internet gives them anonymity to continue their trade in abusive images of children. "