Paedophile ring smashed by Police

Timothy Cox saw a "gap in the market", the court heard

Police have smashed a global child abuse network which was co-ordinated through a UK-based internet site.

Global agencies, led by UK investigators, examined more than 700 suspects, including 200 in the UK.

The ring was run by Timothy Cox, 28, of Buxhall, Suffolk, who admitted nine offences and has been handed a sentence which could mean he dies in jail.

A judge at Ipswich Crown Court told Cox: "You are obsessed with images of children being sexually abused."

Chatroom infiltration

Cox ran a website called "Kids the Light of Our Lives" which let users exchange abuse images, the court heard.

Judge Peter Thompson told Cox: "These are shocking images which involve very young children - in the worst cases being subjected to sadistic, painful abuse which you, for some distorted reason, appear to take enjoyment from."

Anybody who thinks they can carry out such horrific activities undetected is in for a rude awakening


Jim Gamble
CEOP



More than 75,000 indecent and explicit images were found on Cox's computer and there was evidence that he had supplied more than 11,000 images to other site users.

Cox pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing indecent images of children at an earlier hearing and was handed an indeterminate sentence.

Cox posed "significant risks", the judge said, and had to be imprisoned for "for public protection".

Under the terms of his sentence, he must satisfy the authorities that he is fit for release and does not pose any threat to the community before he can ever be set free.

Ian Robertson, of the UK-based Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre (CEOP), told BBC News 24 that the ages of the children whose images were exchanged on the site ranged from babies to teenagers.

After he was arrested in September 2006, undercover officers spent 10 days infiltrating the chatroom, assuming his identity to collect evidence about other users.

When Cox was arrested, undercover officers placed a message online saying he had gone for his tea and would be back in half an hour to avoid raising suspicions.

As many as 70 online paedophiles were waiting to download images of abuse.

Investigators from the Australian Federal Police, the US Department of Homeland Security and Toronto Police took part in the online surveillance operation.

In total, 31 children were saved as a result of the investigation, CEOP said.

Cox lived with his parents, sister and 26-year-old girlfriend in a large farmhouse and worked at the family's micro-brewery. The website was operated from his bedroom.

CEOP said Cox hosted the website using the pseudonym "Son of God" - a reference to "G.O.D", the online identity of the owner of another paedophile site shut down by police last year.

The court heard Cox spotted a "gap in the market" after the other site was closed.

Simon Spence, prosecuting, told the court: "For what must have been hours at a time he was online either viewing these images of children, arranging the chat room or communicating with other paedophiles."

'Horrific activities'

Canadian police passed intelligence about the site to UK investigators



Jim Gamble of CEOP said his capture "sends a powerful warning to those using the internet to facilitate the sexual exploitation of children".

He added: "From the apparent 'safety' of his home, Cox spent hours each day planning, promoting and encouraging the abuse and exploitation of children.

"In doing so he provided a service to hundreds of like-minded individuals, enabling those with a sexual interest in children to share indecent images and discuss further plans for abuse.

"Anybody who thinks they can carry out such horrific activities undetected is in for a rude awakening."

Cox had been identified after intelligence connecting the site to the UK was passed to CEOP by Canadian investigators.

Detective Constable Stefan Jochan said: "He doesn't fit any kind of traditional image of paedophile. He had a veneer of respectability."

The investigation uncovered another member of the same ring, Gordon Mackintosh from Hertfordshire, who attempted to keep the website going after Cox was arrested.

Mackintosh, 33, used the names "silentblackheart" and "lust4skoolgurls". More than 5,000 images were found on his computer as well as 392 indecent movie files. He pleaded guilty to 27 charges of making, possessing and distributing the material and is due to be sentenced on June 29.

 

I would committ murder to avenge those sick fucks and what they do to kids.

 

Holy fucking crap, 75000 pictures?
Sad thing is, it's only the stupid fucks like this that get caught. The smart ones are still at large, always will be. Hell, probably not a few buy or blackmail high-up policemen with a penchant for little girls.. in that situation the supplier is in an immense position of power.
Presumably they've tracked down as many of the ring as they can; there's not gonna be anyone logging onto that site after this, even if it's still running as a honeypot. if i were the police I'd run a longer-term sting operation, try and get more of the bastards.
i mean, using the nickname "lust4skoolgurls" how fuckin' obvious can you GET?

 

yeah man i mean there was even one there called "silentblackheart" I mean if that doesnt reek of it what does !!! what next perhaps someone using the name "redbaron" or "freak"

 

Kill one and another takes its place im afraid. Alot of the blame is the fact society fails to understand such criminals. Thus they prefer to make them out to be total evil beyond rehabilitation. Well people are entitled to opinion. The problem with this country, it prefers to adopt a punity approach rather than try and help those who need it. First you lock them up (Protect the community, makes perfect sense) Transfer them to a medical hospital and then do that drug treatment as is done on Clockwork Orange. It is proved to work and ok it isn't ethical, but the public don't give two shits about criminals anyway.

 

i say we smash the peadophiles ring.....

 

Me too. But before we gather a thousand and put them in the Wicker man like . We try and save a few who have long history of being abused themselves. Lets try and save a few, who recognise they have a problem and want all the help they can get. Before we all gather around like less developed understanding warriors, in the kingdom of the blind.

 

paedophilia is not an illness - any psychiatrist/analyst will tell you that. It is absolutely not an illness of mind - its simply a human condition - people who make out these people to be ill are not doing society any justice - I do not know why the medical and analytical world do not treat it as an illness or their criteria for saying someone is or isnt mentally ill.
I think they believe it is a behavioural problem brought about by conditioning - a human condition. I believe like John said that there should be a reasoned look at what causes such behaviour - yes it needs to be stopped but barbaric treatment of such people is not the answer - I think the answer is that society needs to invest time and money on the problem to find out why people have the sexuality behaviour they carry out as adults whether that is normal adult to adult relations or relations that are considered to be taboo. I find it odd that when people committ a crime that outrages newspaper journalists - members of the public want to murder the criminal ! an even bigger crime !

Surely that behaviour should be cause for concern too !

 

I'm sorry John but this is a crime that cannot be forgiven. It is like crossing the unforbidden line and selling your soul to the devil. I would have no problem with using capital punishment for such crimes. As I'm against capital punishment then just plain old killing would do, but there is just no redemption in my opinion, luckily it takes more than me to gain a balanced objective opinion. Chemical castration would be an alternative to death.

 

this is, i think, the only time i'm definitely pro-death-penalty. after they've been repeated anally raped by as many vicious, disease-infested mosters as possible.

 

You're right. As I've had Sky digital, ("cable" in American money), for a good few months I've been treating myself to those brutal American jail documentaries on National Geographic. Dangerous places, and I guess is what a lot of people would enjoy seeing emulated here. Anyway I guess putting a sick peodo into that enviroment he'd certaining be sucking in his cheeks on a daily bases, especially with the white supremist gangs, they seem quite partial to a bit of male intimate bonding.

It's such an heinous crime.

 

AS A PARENT, I think we should should all be very, very worried about these sick, twisted animals. They skulk on every corner waiting to take away and abuse our children. Your Children.

MONSTERS

Burying them in sand up to their necks and throwing really big sticks at their heads isn't good enough for these monsters. Sodomising them with a flaming bargepole is not good enough. I'm a parent, we need real castigation for these beasts.

PUNISHMENT

My group, MAPS (Muvvers Against Peedos Scum), are pushing the government for new legislation to punish these miscreations properly, and I'd know what's right; I'm a parent. Proposals include: Forced chemical injections to rid them of these urges, drugs that mess with your brain chemistry are bad-we wouldn't want our kids, your kids, taking them-but not when given to paedos. Mandatory castration. 17 hours per day treadmill walking. The stocks. Thumbscrews. I'm a parent. Publicly broadcast ducking stool sessions (only available on Sky packages, I'm afraid- for more details on how to purchase Sky packages see www.sky.com or call 0800-PAEDOMAD). I'm a parent. Rape, loads of times by loads of different people, perhaps even other paedos, we'll see how they like it eh (rape is bad, of course, honest, just not when it's done to paedos). I'm a parent. Thrashings to within an inch of their life then nursing them back to full health over a matter of months just to repeat the punishment on recovery (punishment will be facilitated by private security firms contracted on multimillion pound government contracts. They've got wicked big batons and that). I'm a parent and I believe all of this is still not good enough for a paedo.

LURKING

Please sign our e-petition to ask that the home secretary consider our full (417 page) proposal to keep these monsters off the streets. I'm a parent. Let's keep our children, Your Children, safe from the threat that is lurking everywhere: in the local park, outside the school gates, supermarkets, on our high streets, our shopping centres, everywhere that our spawn, your spawn, really contribute to society. Buy more stuff. Nowhere is safe. I'm a parent. They are everywhere. Your neighbour could be a paedo. Or that nice old man who walks his dogs in the park. I'm a parent. Even your friendly local community support officer could be. Trust no-one. Only leave the house to buy things (certain newspapers are a good place to start). I'm a parent. I once heard somewhere they share more genes in common with crabs than humans... Can't remember where though...​

 

Agreed. Please take what I wrote above with a pinch of salt please folks, too often people on here don't understand my humour. Of course paedophilia is fucked up and the people that partake in the abuse of children are fucked up, I don't dispute that. I don't dispute that some individuals are incapable of change. What I do take issue with is all this knee-jerk reaction and 'burn the witch' posturing which frankly smacks of either a) bullshit rhetoric or b) psychopathic tendancy. Either way it's pretty shitty IMO but as John said, everyone is entitled to an opinion so don't shoot me down as trolling or trying to be controversial for expressing what I believe.

OK, that site in the article was big and was providing people with bad things they shouldn't have their hands on but looking at the bigger picture padeophilia is a small problem. One which should obviously be stamped out and should have money put into eradicating it and bringing these people (not 'monsters', people) to justice but one that is essentialy a very small problem. Yeah, ok, however small it's bad yes, we know, but until the people who relentlessly complain stop buying products made using child labour or from companies and countries with disgraceful human rights records and are proactive about the welfare of all children, not just good little white ones, then their arguments somehow seem hollow.

Anyone ever heard of Operation Ore and the suicides following it?

Perhaps it's over exposure in the media etc that has created my apathy, too many people wanting to care too much, competitions of who can care the most (don't get me started on that good little white girl missing in Portugal), people boosting their egos by publicly showing their support for strangers, total sickening media saturation and fake tears. Terrible things happen all the time and with all the terrible preventable things happening on large scales to people of all ages all over the globe this is a small fry. People giving the argument of "You wouldn't understand, you're not a parent" miss the point a bit. I don't know the instinct I'd have over a child of mine, I'd probably go a bit crazy when it came to my children but this surely makes you less objective and much more subjective, therefore less qualified to make an unbiased and rational judgement.

Bottom line: Paedophilia is bad. We should do everything in our power to prevent it within rational boundaries. It's good the bloke behind that website was prosecuted. We need to calm down and be sensible and adult about the issue and not go into mob mode or behave like the children we're meant to be protecting.


Just to reiterate: I'm not looking for an argument here (though debate is good), just some people think when I express an opinion on this board I'm attacking individuals. Not people just opinions, thanks

 

maybe it would be good if they actually learned why it is so endemic in society and then changed society to create fewer or none -

There is growing support for the idea that this sexuality develops early on in childhood and that if it is not seen in a childs behaviour by the age of 11 its already too late

People who want to kill paedophiles ignore one thing. Paedophilia is rife amongst children - apparently paedophiles are already made by the time they are 12
its something thats got to be caught early on and millions if not billions of dollars of research must go into it! - you cant say kill them - if youre not prepared also to cure it ! Psychiatrists dont see it as an ilness and no paedohile wanted to be one - its rather like being a homosexual then , or being white, or being black - its not something that can be changed - so why kill them ?
either just protect society from them or cure them or both - but just to say "kill them" is certainly just as animalistic as they are - I believe that if you catch this behaviour soon enough in children it could be stopped

 

I'm sorry Ronnie but I disgree with you. I find it hard to believe that paedophiles become who they are by the age of 12, unless it's about the abuse of babies, failing that I would argue a child of that age is becoming sexually aware, again this is purly subjective without evidence for my argument.

For the comparison to other 'sub' groups; and I used sub loosley, as in ethnicity and sexuality is to agrue that they are evil too, and I'll believe you don't mean that. As for the argument of wanting these people to be cut out of society is being the same as a paedophile, it isnt its about administrating a punishment fit for the crime!

 

thats a silly statement - kids experiment way before that with sex - well I know I did - me and a few other kids were well interested in seeing each other naked etc at abot the age of 9 or 10 - I know I was having sexual fantasies by about the age of 6 or 7 - I'm just being honest and for once serious - I think this is a debate much like the victorians must have had about poverty and child lkabour etc - it deserves honesty and a calm reasoned thinking process. ,

Surely in your own childhood you were becoming sexually aware of yourself if not other people before 12

Silly argument - you are saying that because I label all paedophiles as human that means I label all humans as paedophiles - very silly !!!!

you must be stoned I never said anything like it - I said if you are saying these paedophiles deserve to be treated worse than animals or that you would kill them - you cannot say this without first wanting to cure them or find some root cause for their behaviour -

A leading police officer recently said not all paedophiles should be imprisoned - he said that paedophilia is so endemic within society that there is obviously something wrong with our perception of how to treat the crime and that more - much much more thought and effort needs to go in to understanding it and preventing/curing it !

I am with him (ha what a turn around a copper that actually thinks)

 

I cant think of anything more horrible than Paedophilia, but I do think it is a mental illness and as it have been mentioned more research should be done on ways to prevent and treat it. It makes me extremely sad to think about it, because of the not thousand but millions of children that are abused every year and all that is being destroyed for them.
I once watched a documentary on child trafficking and the location and eventrually shut down of this child brothel in India... that has been the saddest and most disturbing thing I've ever seen. I'm unable to comprehend how can abuse of a child but I still do think that this people are sick and in need of help and there should be some rehabilitation or reforming of some kind, this doesnt make it any less horrible but I still dont think this is a thing a person choses to be.
On the other hand I used to work for PlanUSA.. I think there is just Plan too, because its a global organization, well not really worked for them, but for Dialogue Direct and I fundraise for them, I would always try to get a Sponsor for Child Trafficking and if you are interested in getting involved here's the website go see for yourself.
http://www.planusa.org/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/56

 

Hey Autentique. Yeah, you're right it is a dispicable crime that, I for one could not forgive.

 

Hang on Ronnie, you're the one who's making the point about the age someone becomes a paedophile. I'm not disputing that people become sexually active at an early age, the point is how can a 9 year old be a peodophile if he, and I'll not use she for obv. reasons because it's so rare, fancies another 9 year old or indeed someone younger? It's when a mature adult fancies a child of 9 is when we begin the 'witch hunt' as some of you would have it.

You are the one who made the comparison with ethnicity and sexuality. Peodophilia is not a default disposition, which is why its probably not that common.

On your other point which you have mis-quoted me on, in that people who wanted retribution for the evil paedophiles commit are the same as paedophiles or animals, if that isn't what you meant then I have misread you.

As for the police officer. His point, which I disagree with totally, was about accessing child pornography. He was talking about levels of this type of evil. People who pay to access child pornographic sites, in his developed opinion, should be treat differently to those who act out the crime. I would respect his thoughts simply because he has likely been arm deep in this type of shit and has a greater understanding, but I 'm afraid I disagree. Most people and me included surf and look at porn. Sorry to disappoint Ronnie, but it tends to be grown up woman I enjoy. What I'm getting at is that I have never accessed, even accidentally, child pornographic sites and those who do are bare faced liars, especially when they leave a legacy in the form of a credit card number!

There cannot be a light at the end of the tunnel as far as rehabilitation for this evil. They have crossed a forbidden line and I would have them suffer the greatest consequence. Don't get me wrong, I hate it when people take the cheap moral high ground on issues like this and it's easy to get support, but I feel so strong about it.

And try and be a little less provocative, your making a great stand in your views, so less of the insults, eh?