ELEVEN arrests were made this week as part of a national police sting on people suspected of being involved in the distribution of indecent images of children.
It was announced yesterday (Wednesday) morning that the suspects were arrested at addresses across Warwickshire and were currently on police bail as investigations continued into their internet activity.
The suspects’ homes searched although officers have not revealed the individual locations of the arrests.
They did say many of those arrested had some form of access to children and claimed 31 children in the county as well as across its partner force West Mercia’s area, where 16 people were arrested, have now been protected from harm.
Detective Superintendent Steve Cullen said: “The evidence indicates the majority of these suspects were not previously known to law enforcement agencies, certainly in a child protection context. They are now, and they will stay in our sights.
“We still have a lot of work to do to assess what offences have been committed and, where we have sufficient evidence, to charge those we have arrested.”
The UK-wide operation co-ordinated by the National Crime Agency (NCA) was publicly launched yesterday with the announcement that 660 people had been detained and questioned across the country.
The NCA said it had been collecting intelligence which had been handed to forces across England and Wales about suspected paedophiles using the web.
Across the whole of the West Midlands region which also includes Staffordshire Police and West Midlands Police forces 74 people were arrested. Seven of those were in neighbouring Coventry.
