18/06/2007

Global paedophile ring smashed

Thirty-one children have been rescued from abuse after police smashed an international paedophile ring.

Timothy Cox, 27, ran a web-site from Buxall in Suffolk which allowed paedophiles to swap photos and videos of children being abused.

Offenders used a chatroom called 'Kids the Light of Our Lives' in order to swap the images. Cox used the online identity 'Son of God' to host the network.

Around 700 suspects - 200 in the UK alone - were identified in 35 countries during a ten-month long operation, led by the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre.

Cox pleaded guilty to nine child porn offences and was given an indefinite jail term on Monday at Ipswich Crown Court.

He is expected to remain in jail until experts decide that he is fit for release and poses no threat to the community.

More than 75,000 indecent and explicit images were found on his computer when he was arrested last September, along with evidence that he had supplied more than 11,000 images to other users of his web-site.

(KMcA/JM)


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