Members of Government, armed forces, law enforcement and teachers are among hundreds of suspected child sex offenders arrested in the last nine months.
A major joint operation between the National Crime Agency and 40 police forces around the country targeting online child abuse images has caught nearly 700 alleged paedophiles, it has been revealed.
Almost 150 people have already been charged as investigations concerning the vast majority of the remaining suspects continue with officers saying the figure is likely to rise.
Norfolk Chief Constable Simon Bailey, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said 93 per cent of those arrested were not previously known to law enforcement agencies in relation to child abuse.
He said: “If we hadn’t gone out looking for them as we have done, they would have remained under the radar and the nearly 400 children we’ve safeguarded since then would still be at risk. Today’s results demonstrate a new level of intent to stop offenders viewing indecent images and abusing children, and a new sophistication in our tactics.
