Published: Wed 20 Nov 2019
People are being warned to report child sexual abuse directly to the IWF after a senior Metropolitan Police officer was convicted of possessing an indecent image of a child.
The Internet Watch Foundation, a charity which works to remove online child sexual abuse, is calling for people to report videos and images anonymously and safely to their hotline, warning that possessing indecent images of children, no matter what the intention, is a crime.
Novlett Robyn Williams, 54, was yesterday (Tuesday) found guilty of possessing an indecent image of a child, but not guilty of corruption.
It was reported that The Old Bailey heard Williams’ sister had received a video from her partner and passed it on to a group including Williams in the hopes of alerting her to the abuse and prompting action.
Williams had denied the charges but was convicted of possessing the video.
Susie Hargreaves OBE, IWF CEO said: “This is a salutary reminder of what people should do in these situations if they stumble across images or videos of child sexual abuse.
“No matter who you are, possessing indecent images of children is a criminal offence.
“People need to know the right way to take action when they see something online that needs to be removed.
“If you ever see something like this on the internet, please report it to the police and the IWF to ensure that the content is traced and removed.
“This is safe and anonymous, and is the right way to do the right thing.”
Williams is due to be sentenced on November 26.
Criminal content of online child sexual abuse can be reported anonymously here. The IWF’s trained team of analysts work to eradicate this content from the internet.
As EU negotiations on the Child Sexual Abuse Regulation resume in Brussels, the Internet Watch Foundation places a choice before the public and policymakers – to either push for legislation that protects children online or make it easier for child sexual abuse content to spread.
