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| Paedophiles who download images 'won't all be charged' | Paedophiles who download images 'won't all be charged' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Some paedophiles with images of child abuse will escape prosecution, the head of the National Crime Agency says. | Some paedophiles with images of child abuse will escape prosecution, the head of the National Crime Agency says. |
| Keith Bristow said the NCA would have to focus on pursuing those who posed most risk but that others would face a "range of interventions". | Keith Bristow said the NCA would have to focus on pursuing those who posed most risk but that others would face a "range of interventions". |
| Some 660 arrests were made during a recent operation targeting people who had accessed child abuse images online. | Some 660 arrests were made during a recent operation targeting people who had accessed child abuse images online. |
| However, the BBC understands that as many as 20,000-30,000 individuals were identified during that investigation. | However, the BBC understands that as many as 20,000-30,000 individuals were identified during that investigation. |
| The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre - part of the NCA - has estimated that 50,000 people in the UK are involved in downloading and sharing images of child abuse. | |
| NCA director general Mr Bristow said it was "not realistic" to expect all of them to face prosecution. | |
| "Our responsibility is to focus on the greatest risk and tackle those people," he said. | |
| 'Horrible criminality' | |
| The NCA said in July that the 660 arrests made as part of Operation Notarise included teachers, medical staff, former police officers, a social services worker and scout leader. | |
| Some of the suspected paedophiles had terabytes - equivalent to 1,000GB - worth of data on their hard drives or storage devices. | Some of the suspected paedophiles had terabytes - equivalent to 1,000GB - worth of data on their hard drives or storage devices. |
| Mr Bristow said every image would be assessed, describing it was "high volume" work that had to be done at pace. | |
| "If there are 50,000 people involved in this particularly horrible type of criminality, I don't believe all 50,000 will end up in the criminal justice system," he said at a briefing for journalists. | "If there are 50,000 people involved in this particularly horrible type of criminality, I don't believe all 50,000 will end up in the criminal justice system," he said at a briefing for journalists. |
| "It's uncomfortable but we're going work through it in a logical way, target the most risky first." | "It's uncomfortable but we're going work through it in a logical way, target the most risky first." |
| He said there would be a "range of interventions" which for some of the offenders could fall short of them "standing in a court". | He said there would be a "range of interventions" which for some of the offenders could fall short of them "standing in a court". |
| Mr Bristow drew a distinction between "contact abusers" who may have been involved in physical abuse, and those who shared images. | Mr Bristow drew a distinction between "contact abusers" who may have been involved in physical abuse, and those who shared images. |
| The NCA said it had to focus on those who did the most harm to children. | The NCA said it had to focus on those who did the most harm to children. |
| Society would have to have "deeply uncomfortable conversations" about the scale of child abuse and how to respond to it, Mr Bristow added. | Society would have to have "deeply uncomfortable conversations" about the scale of child abuse and how to respond to it, Mr Bristow added. |