Internet Watch Foundation

A statement released today has announced that Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and NSPCC's Specialist Investigations Service (SIS) are joining forces in a major push to tackle the escalating problem of child abuse on the internet.

 

 

The first project of its kind in the UK, the ‘cyberbeat’ project called E-spy, combines the investigation expertise of officers in the GMP's Abusive Images Unit with the child protection skills of the NSPCC.

 

 

E-spy aims to trace and identify the child victims whose abusive images appear on the internet. It will also look to track the paedophiles who are responsible for the horrific abuse and bring them to justice.

 

 

In the report, NSPCC director Wes Cuell said he hoped the initiative would bring abusers to justice, saying: "Behind the images are real children who have suffered."

 

 

In the last year, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has seized more than one million indecent images of children, many of which appeared on the internet.

 

 

Assistant Chief Constable Dave Whatton, of GMP, said: "Project E-spy aims to show that victims and their abuse can be traced given the resources.

 

 

"The making and trading of child abuse images recognises no geographical boundaries.

 

 

"GMP has linked up with NSPCC, which works across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to ensure images are tracked and intelligence shared no matter where the abuse originates."

 

 

ACC Whatton added: “I am proud that GMP’s Abusive Images Unit and NSPCC are leading this innovative project.  This is a global problem, not just one that affects Greater Manchester and we are committed to working together to protect vulnerable children and bring paedophiles to justice.

 

 

“I am sure that Project E-spy will prove extremely successful and will help us find children who are abused and bring them the help they need.”

 

 

“Many of the offenders who use the internet to access and circulate such images, naively believe that they can do so anonymously.  But I want to send a clear message to them, that our specially trained officers police the internet, as they would any other beat and so they will be caught and brought to justice.”

 

 

The Internet Watch Foundation was very supportive of this new initiative.

 

Frank Glen, IWF Operations Manager said:

“Every picture of a child being abused represents a crime scene and identifying the victims is obviously of the highest priority.

 

The IWF has always worked in partnership with the police and we are pleased to be able to assist with the reporting and removal of child abuse images online.

 

 

In addition to removal of content, the intelligence we forward to relevant law enforcement agencies is done with a purpose to assist them in the tracing and identification of victims and potential offenders.

 

We believe working in partnership is the most effective way to deal with the dreadful criminality behind the creation and distribution of indecent images of children online.”

 

 

In their bi-annual report this year, the IWF reported that there was double the amount of reports referring to child abuse images submitted to their internet hotline, compared to the same period last year.

 

 

A third of all reports processed in this period resulted in relevant information being passed to foreign hotlines and law enforcement agencies around the world with a continuing drift of child abuse content apparently hosted in Russia and the USA.

 

 

Cath Drake, NSPCC media office on 0207 825 2530 or the after hours media mobile on 07976 206 625