Murder girls police porn inquiry

One officer was a link between the girls' families and police

HUNTINGDON, Cambridgeshire -- Two police officers who worked on the Holly Wells-Jessica Chapman murder inquiry have been arrested on child porn charges.

They were arrested in the ongoing Operation Ore in which UK police have been targeting users of pay-per-view Web sites based in the United States, police said.

The two officers, both based at Cambridgeshire police HQ in Huntingdon, eastern England, are accused of inciting others to distribute indecent photographs of children.

One of the officers, Det. Con. Brian Stevens, was a family liaison officer in the double child murder inquiry and read out a poem at a memorial service for the girls. The other, who has not been named, is a constable who worked on the inquiry.

Stevens was one of four family liaison officers providing a link between the two families and police.

They were also responsible for obtaining detailed descriptions of clothes, jewellery or other items that the two girls were wearing at the time of their disappearance.

The West Midlands police force has been called in to conduct the inquiry. Using a third party force when investigating police officers is common practice in the UK.

A police spokesman told the UK's Press Association: "Officers from West Midlands Police arrested both Cambridgeshire officers at their home addresses in the county.

"They were arrested on suspicion of inciting others to distribute indecent photographs of children, an offence contrary to common law."

Both officers have been taken to police stations outside the county for questioning.

Holly and Jessica's families have been informed of the arrests but Cambridgeshire Police stressed they were entirely separate from the murder inquiry.

In May, 36 people were arrested in a series of Operation Ore raids coordinated by the National Crime Squad.

Computer users arrested in Operation Ore were accused of paying to access Web sites which were selling pornographic images, some of them of children as young as five being sexually abused.

Operation Ore is the UK wing of the FBI's Operation Candyman which has so far identified thousands of suspects around the world.