Safernet Brasil

A massive police operation has uncovered an alleged paedophile ring based in Britain with more than 300 members worldwide.

The London-based Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) co-ordinated a global undercover "sting" which pinpointed alleged key suspects in the UK.

An undisclosed number of children were also rescued from alleged sexual abuse.

Officers from Britain, the US, Australia and Canada operated shifts around the clock to infiltrate the suspected paedophile ring on the Web.

Jim Gamble, the Ceop chief executive, said: "There have been a number of arrests and a number of children rescued from abuse.

"We identified an online area used by individuals with a deviant interest in children - in my mind that's a paedophile ring.

"That was then infiltrated by us in conjunction with our international partners.

"We closed what we believe was a paedophile ring with excess of 300 members. Principal suspects were in the UK.

Mr Gamble said information on the 300-plus alleged paedophiles in other countries will be shared with their local law enforcement agencies.

"We had undercover officers from Canada, America, Australia and the UK involved simultaneously," said Mr Gamble.

"Through an eight-hour shift pattern there was a continuous covert investigation trying to infiltrate the group."

Since Ceop was set up last April, its work has already led to 27 predatory paedophiles being placed in custody and about 70 children safeguarded from abuse, he added.

It also has 18 investigations currently under way to identify child sex victims from clues given away in abuse photographs.

Eight children have been identified and rescued from abuse.

Ceop brings police, computer industry experts and specialists from children's charities together under one roof.

The British-led VGT is currently targeting suspects in south-east Asia with the assistance of local police and law enforcement agencies, Mr Gamble said.

The news comes as a major conference opens in Washington DC on the Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT), a joint initiative designed to ensnare online paedophiles across the globe.