Child abuse intelligence poorly handled by CEOP
A security agency sat on intelligence regarding more than 2,300 suspected paedophiles for over a year because it did know what to do with it, an investigation has concluded.
A security agency sat on intelligence regarding more than 2,300 suspected paedophiles for over a year because it did know what to do with it, an investigation has concluded.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) identified failings in how the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) handled data sent to it by Canadian authorities detailing widespread child abuse.
CEOP received the intelligence on 2,345 people suspected of buying child abuse images in 2012, but despite initially handling it well it did not pass the data to forces for 16 months.
The oversight was not discovered until October 2013 when Toronto Police contacted CEOP for an update on the investigations progress.
The IPCC report said: There was evidence of a lack of general understanding or agreement as to who had ownership of the issue for some time, disagreements as to which team within the organisation might have the capacity to take the lead and consider and process the information most appropriately.
Decisions taken in respect of the Toronto Police referral had not been taken and there had been a lack of adequate supervision.
This was against the background of, at that time, there being a significant backlog of work and other information to deal with within CEOP. As a result the information was not dealt with in a timely manner.
The Canadian intelligence was eventually used to convict Doctor Myles Bradbury, who was found guilty of abusing 18 young cancer patients in 2014.
However eight of these victims were abused during the 16 months that CEOP failed to pass on the data.
The information was also used in investigations into Welsh teacher Gareth Williams, who was arrested in 2014 after admitting possession of 679 indecent images of children.
One officer who was seconded to CEOP faced misconduct proceedings because of the investigation.
However, a meeting on Monday (October 10) found that the allegations were not proven.
An employee of the National Crime Agency (NCA), which oversees CEOP, has also been provided with management advice.
The NCA commissioned two internal reviews after it identified concerns with how the data was handled to ensure that processes were improved.
All of the recommendations made in these reviews were accepted and have been successfully implemented.
A spokesperson for the NCA said: The NCAs CEOP Command now has transformed significantly over the last 18 months with the investment of £10 million announced at the WeProtect summit in 2014.
In 2015/16, 1,802 children were safeguarded or protected as a result of NCA activity and over 4,100 disseminations were made to police.
An NSPCC spokesman said: The Watchdog has identified critical blunders made by officers from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) regarding intelligence.
Their intervention and effective information sharing could have saved Bradburys victims from his grotesque crimes.
Whilst changes have now been made agencies need to ensure that sensitive information about professionals who work with children is prioritised and dealt with immediately.
Close scrutiny will be needed to gauge whether the CEOP follows the key recommendations made by the National Crime Agency in the aftermath of this shocking case.