20 web perverts caught every month in Lothians

UP TO 20 new cases of internet paedophiles are being uncovered in the Lothians every month, with hundreds set to face court in the next year, it was revealed today.

The spiralling number of charges come after a specialist unit – the largest of its kind in Scotland – was set up to hunt down online perverts.

Around 200 people were caught possessing or distributing child pornography in the Lothians between April 2008 and March last year, according to new figures, including around 140 in Edinburgh.

Recent cases include a raid on the home of a suspect in the Lothians which saw officers seize 23 computers.

As well as the specialist unit, officers elsewhere in the force are continuing to investigate other child pornography cases, which is set to see the number of arrests soar even further.

Detective Superintendent Allan Jones, who heads up major crime investigation for the force, said: "

These officers will be unearthing connections between individuals sharing images, and that will only lead to more people being traced and further arrests.

"In this age when so many people are online and using anonymous means of communication, it is our job to catch those using technology to commit abuse."

The Child Protection Internet Investigation Unit was set up in the wake of Operation Algebra, a Lothian and Borders Police inquiry, which uncovered Scotland's worst ever paedophile ring.

Ringleaders James Rennie and Neil Strachan were given life sentences at the High Court in Edinburgh last October for molesting children as young as three months old and distributing images of the abuse.

Six other ring members were jailed for a total of 43 years while detectives handed dossiers of evidence to other forces against around 80 suspected members.

Det Supt Jones added: "These cases can be very complex. The force has an excellent record of securing convictions through the evidence collected, with around 90 per cent of individuals agreeing guilty pleas before they even reach court."

When computers are seized, the unit's technical experts carry out analysis on the equipment, often finding e-mail addresses belonging to more potential suspects.

As well as developing their own intelligence, the unit receives tip-offs over potential suspects from the Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

While there is no way of knowing how many people in the Lothians may be accessing child pornography, police in the US have given an idea of the scale of the problem.

The Evening News has already told how special agents from a taskforce based in Wyoming identified at least 700 suspected paedophiles from Edinburgh who had been caught trafficking images of child sex abuse. A total of 3,200 internet or IP addresses were traced to the Capital, with 707 individual computers identified.

A spokesman for the Crown Office said it was committed to prosecuting all cases involving sexual offences where there was sufficient evidence.