Sixty children have been taken to a place of safety after a paedophile ring that hosted rape sessions in Brighton was closed down by police.
The sessions – known to the gang as “boil of the day” – were ended by Operation Rescue, with the arrest of nearly 200 suspected paedophiles.
The suspects, aged 17 to 82, used premises in Brighton and London and were being held after a series of police raids across Britain and abroad.
Those arrested here include a police officer, a police civilian worker, a soldier, youth workers, scoutmasters and a woman who works for a major electrical firm in Scotland.
Police said that she had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
The 60 British children taken to safety are among 230 rescued around the world.
The three-year investigation has been led by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP).
Europol, American officials and police from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands became involved.
Extensive
Details of the extensive operation were given at a press conference in The Hague in the Netherlands.
This was where the gang’s website server was based.
The website – called boylover.net – had more than 70,000 members. It was closed down in November 2009.
Locally, the Sussex Police Paedophile On Line Investigation Team (POLIT) has been carrying out investigations into six individuals based on intelligence from Operation Rescue.
One of those has already resulted in an offender being convicted and sentenced.
Ian Riley, 25, a primary school teaching assistant from Haywards Heath, was jailed for three and a half years at Hove Crown Court in July last year.
He filmed children as young as five as they changed for sports lessons.
He admitted 34 child porn offences.
