Clarke targets internet paedophiles
Paedophiles who use the internet to distribute illegal images of children will be the target of a new government body designed to support police and child protection agencies.
The Centre for Child Protection on the Internet will aim to reduce child abuse facilitated through the internet, such as the ‘grooming’ of children in online chat rooms.
Child protection will continue to be the responsibility of local police forces and child protection agencies, but the centre will provide a single point of contact for law enforcers to report the targeting of children online.
It will assess intelligence on offenders, devise strategies to reduce offending, and manage the national database of child abuse images. Information and advice will be offered to victims and potential victims, and investigations to identify high priority targets will be undertaken by the centre.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke said the new centre would help the police to do their job more effectively.
“Online abuse by definition crosses geographical police force boundaries – so it makes much more sense to tackle the problem at national level,” he added.
Police officers, child protection experts, and internet industry specialists will staff the centre, which will be attached to the new Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).
Supporters of the centre include the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Internet Watch Foundation, children’s charities, and the internet industry.
Stuart Hyde, the ACPO lead on child abuse and chief constable of the West Midlands police, said the centre would be “a major contribution to making the internet safer”.
Children’s charities agreed, with the NSPCC’s Wes Cuell saying it would make the “internet a safer place for children and young people”.
Children’s charity NCH’s John Carr added: “This national centre marks a big step forward in tackling online child abuse. It’s the first example anywhere in the world of the police, the industry, child welfare bodies, and the Government working together under one roof to tackle internet child abuse.”
The new centre will become operational by April 2006.
