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| Scout leader and foster carer among 51 suspected paedophiles | Scout leader and foster carer among 51 suspected paedophiles |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A scout leader, a foster carer, an ex-police officer and a social service manager are among 51 people arrested in Wales as part of a major UK-wide operation carried out against suspected paedophiles. | |
| The six-month-long operation targeted people accessing indecent images of children online. | |
| Several of those arrested had unsupervised access to children. | Several of those arrested had unsupervised access to children. |
| Across the UK 660 people were arrested and more than 400 children safeguarded. | Across the UK 660 people were arrested and more than 400 children safeguarded. |
| The 51 arrests all took place in south and mid Wales and of those, two were registered sex offenders. | |
| So far, 12 people have been charged with offences of possession and distribution indecent images of children. | |
| South Wales Police has overseen the operation in Wales covering its own area along with Dyfed-Powys and Gwent police force areas. | |
| It says 42 children have been protected, and 16 more safeguarded - referred to social services. | |
| 'Unprecedented increase' | |
| South Wales Police assistant chief constable for specialist crime, Nikki Holland, said: "This has been a huge operation where we have targeted numerous offenders accessing child abuse images. | |
| "The majority of these people may have thought they were operating under the radar but we were able to identify them and this sends a strong message to other offenders - you will be caught. | |
| "Nationally we have seen an unprecedented increase in the number of reports of sexual abuse of children and our primary aim is to protect children who were victims of, or might be at risk of, sexual exploitation. | |
| "Children are victimised not only when they are abused and an image is first taken. They are victimised repeatedly every time that image is viewed. | |
| "We also know that people who start by accessing indecent images online can then go on to abuse children directly. | |
| "So the operation is not only about catching people who have already offended - it is about influencing potential offenders before they cross that line." | |
| She added: "Offenders need to know that the internet is not a safe anonymous space for accessing indecent images, that they leave a digital footprint, and that law enforcement will find it." | |
| The whole operation was co-ordinated by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and involved 45 police forces across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. | |
| NCA Deputy Director said the actives of paedophiles targeted were "pervasive" and covered a "broad range". | |
| He said images of abusive were being distributed on both the open and so-called 'dark web' where sophisticated software is used to route internet traffic through servers to hide its origins. |