Police in the U.K. today say they have smashed the “world’s largest” child sex ring, arresting more than 100 suspected pedophiles and shutting down the Internet domain boylover.net after a four-year investigation.
Police say that “Operation Rescue” has taken more than 200 children out of danger of sexual abuse and that they aren’t nearly done making arrests—as many as 1,200 people are suspects in Britain alone. Police uncovered users in 30 countries including Britain, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Brazil and Holland. So far, 670 suspected pedophiles have been targeted by police across the world, according to Daily Mail Online. Scout leaders, school teachers and police officers are among those arrested, according to reports.
The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP), a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating child pornography from the Internet, participated in the investigation. Members of ASACP include prominent adult pornography sites.
“It is personally very rewarding when pedophiles are identified and arrested and children are rescued from abuse,” said Tim Henning, ASACP’s vice president of technology and forensic research. “I am honored that ASACP could be part of this. We sent our first report to law enforcement about this site on Dec. 12, 2005, and there have been numerous reports since then. We are pleased that law enforcement was able to finally infiltrate this group and stop this outrageous and open abuse of children.”