[Shaun]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24818769

More than 100 Britons were among 1,000 men caught trying to pay a computer-generated child to perform sex acts online, after a Dutch children's charity set up a fake profile.

Terre des Hommes carried out a 10-week sting near Amsterdam, posing on video chat rooms as "Sweetie", a 10-year-old Filipina girl.

Some 20,000 men contacted her, with 1,000 found to have offered her money.

The names of these men - including 110 Britons - were passed to police.

When I visited the charity's operations room - in a warehouse on the outskirts of Amsterdam - I watched as a researcher logged on to a chat room as Sweetie - incredibly life-like but created by a computer.

Within seconds, like sharks, men were circling.

Of the 1,000 men who were willing to pay Sweetie to take off her clothes in front of a webcam, 254 were from the US, followed by 110 from the UK and 103 from India.

Researchers used evidence including profiles on Skype and social media to identify the suspects.

Project director Hans Guyt told a news conference in the Hague on Monday that the crime "requires a new way of policing".

"The predator won't come forward. The victim won't come forward," he said.

"We identified ourselves as 10-year-old Filipino girls.

"We did not solicit anything unless it was offered to us."

Terre des Hommes has launched a global campaign to stop "webcam sex tourism".

Managing director, Albert Jaap van Santbrink, said: "Our worst-case scenario is that the same will happen with this phenomenon as with child pornography, which is now a multi-billion industry in the hands of criminal gangs."

The charity has now handed over its findings to police and has said it will provide authorities with the technology it has developed.

But European policing agency Europol has expressed reservations about the findings.

"We believe that criminal investigations using intrusive surveillance measures should be the exclusive responsibility of law enforcement agencies," spokesman Soren Pedersen told the Reuters news agency.

Andy Baker, of the UK's National Crime Agency, also said that "tackling child sex abusers is best left to specialist law enforcement agencies".

But he praised the campaign, saying it had "widened awareness of a global child sex abuse threat".

"Working with our international law enforcement partners, we will now look at the information being passed on by Terre des Hommes," he added.

Sweetie will not be used again. She has done her job - showing the predators that they can easily become prey.

This seems a bit crazy to me... inventing a child to be targeted seems quite sick in itself. And is propositioning a computer-generated child technically a crime?

[Niamh.]

^ You could argue that preventative measures like this are far better than waiting for actual crimes involving young children to happen though

[Niamh.]

Also, isn't it a done thing already for Police officers to go under cover as children to catch online pedophiles out?

[Shaun]

The whole thing screams thoughtcrime to me - although it's difficult because obviously the men caught were under the impression she was real (but then again, this is an assumption).

[Niamh.]

The sheer volume of men they caught out though is scary

[arista]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

The sheer volume of men they caught out though is scary

Yes Married Men with kids
- As well

[arista]

I hope they
do many more of these Stings

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by arista

I hope they
do many more of these Stings

Yeah, I think it's a great idea. Prevention is surely better than the alternative

[Kizzy]

You have to take into consideration this may not be the first time they have sought out this material.
If following investigation it's found it was an isolated incident then that's slightly less unsavoury than the alternative?
Compared to the size of the US and India the amount of Britons is unbelievable :/

[arista]

Originally Posted by Kizzy

You have to take into consideration this may not be the first time they have sought out this material.
If following investigation it's found it was an isolated incident then that's slightly less unsavoury than the alternative?
Compared to the size of the US and India the amount of Britons is unbelievable :/

Yes the way they went like Sharks
to sweetie aged 10
so young.


Shocking

[Marsh.]

Yeah, I don't think the fact that the child isn't real matters.

These men sought out child pornography, one way or another, so I'd say yes they still committed a crime.

People are arrested for just possessing images, not just communicating/propositioning children.

Also, it says they didn't solicit anything until actually asked by these men so I don't think it's classed as entrapment of any kind.

[Ammi]

..it's scary the percentage from the UK, so how does it work then, can charges be made on this..?..

[Tom4784]

Harrowing figures but I doubt any evidence from this would be admissible in court which makes the whole thing a giant waste of time. The only people I can see benefiting from this are the peadophiles that will take more care in how they operate due to this thus potentially making them harder to catch.

I can see this doing more harm than good, good intentions but bad execution.

[Kizzy]

I don't think they would organise such a sophisticated operation for fun.

[Ammi]

..in theory, it's a good idea to trace paedophiles, but are they actually going to be able to make arrests through this..what practical purpose is the research going to have...is it not an 'entrapment' situation, legally...

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Ammi

..in theory, it's a good idea to trace paedophiles, but are they actually going to be able to make arrests through this..what practical purpose is the research going to have...is it not an 'entrapment' situation, legally...

You would hope that the men would atleast be investigated anyway, If they've pursued this one child, chances are they have other stuff on their computers that could actually be used by the police

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

You would hope that the men would atleast be investigated anyway, If they've pursued this one child, chances are they have other stuff on their computers that could actually be used by the police

..yeah, I agree, and laws vary in different countries, but would an investigation be possible with this 'evidence' as it seems a little 'grey' s the 'victim' isn't an actual person at all....it'll be interesting to see if it can lead to investigations or not...

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Ammi

..yeah, I agree, and laws vary in different countries, but would an investigation be possible with this 'evidence' as it seems a little 'grey' s the 'victim' isn't an actual person at all....it'll be interesting to see if it can lead to investigations or not...

I think for crimes like pedophilia and more especially pedophilia online, this could be a great way of policing the internet and protecting children against it. They need to do something anyway, that's for sure, especially with figures like that

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Kizzy

I don't think they would organise such a sophisticated operation for fun.

It was obviously for publicity which they'll get but it will likely end up damaging their cause.

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I think for crimes like pedophilia and more especially pedophilia online, this could be a great way of policing the internet and protecting children against it. They need to do something anyway, that's for sure, especially with figures like that

..yeah, it'll be interesting what they're able to do once someone is 'identified' through this..whether that will mean the police can check their computer activities etc because it's unlikely to be a 'one off', so real victims would probably be found and if they can prosecute, then it would be a real step forward, like you say..it's so scary how prevalent online predators are..I'm just not convinced that the 'information' will be able to be acted on..I hope it is, though...

[Kizzy]

CEOP and other organisations hace been infiltrating chat rooms like this since around 2006 with 'virtual lolitas'
The net is closing, good.

[Samm]

It's quite weird as they use a Child do it

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by SamP

It's quite weird as they use a Child do it

It's not a real child

[Samm]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

It's not a real child

I know that but it's still weird

Originally Posted by SamP

I know that but it's still weird

It's probably impossible to catch a paedophile by using an adult.