'CEOP Report Released' CHILD EXPLOITATION AND ONLINE PROTECTION (CEOP) CENTRE PUBLISHES 2ND YEAR RESULTS AND LAYS OUT THE CHALLENGE AHEAD

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131 CHILDREN SAFEGUARDED FROM SEXUAL ABUSE 297 SUSPECTED CHILD SEX OFFENDERS ARRESTED – A THREE FOLD INCREASE 6 ORGANISED PAEDOPHILE RINGS DISMANTLED 1.7 MILLION UK CHILDREN RECEIVING “SAFETY FIRST” EDUCATION 2nd year results from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre – the UK’s dedicated organisation for tackling the sexual abuse of children – show the battle against child sex offenders continues to gather pace. The CEOP Centre was set up in 2006 to deliver a national policing focus that would track some of the UK’s highest risk sex offenders, provide services across the wider child protection community and deliver a holistic and inclusive response that would get to the heart of the crime. That focus has led to the safeguarding of 131 children and the arrest of 297 suspected offenders during the last twelve months, with the arrest figures alone being a three-fold increase on the organisation’s first year results. During the last year the organisation has processed almost 1 million images of child sex abuse – using each unique image to help either build up intelligence, track and bring offenders to account, or as vital parts of an investigative jigsaw leading to 18 young victims being identified from this area of work alone. And offenders have been targeted not only individually, but also where they have formed intricate paedophile networks with 6 such groups infiltrated and dismantled throughout the year - all with international footprints. Reports from both the child protection community within the widest sense and members of the public – through the CEOP Centre’s unique report abuse virtual environment – continue on an upward trend with a total of 5,812 reports received and activated during the past year – a 76% increase on the monthly average from 2006/07. But tracking and bringing offenders to account is only part of the CEOP operation. The past twelve months has also seen extensions to the organisation’s “safety first” education programme – Thinkuknow. This programme provides a dedicated array of education materials that have now reached over 1.7 million UK children and which have been delivered by 11,000 specially trained professionals - from teachers through to carers and boosted by new services for parents.