Scottish child abusers targeted as police investigate world’s largest online paedophile ring

A total of 15 Scottish child abusers have been targeted as part of an investigation into the world’s biggest online paedophile ring.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre said Operation Rescue had uncovered 240 suspected offenders in the UK, and 670 across the globe.

Despite the global reach of the investigation, both Tayside and Fife Police have not had any involvement in the investigation and no suspects have been identified in either force area.

Police revealed details of the investigation at The Hague earlier this week, and police said 230 children including 60 in the UK had been taken out of danger as a result of the investigation.

Of the 15 Scottish suspects, details of eight were passed to Strathclyde Police, five to Lothian and Borders with the remainder being passed to the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.

All of the suspects had connections to an online forum.

The website had more than 70,000 members and some used it to trade illegal images and films.

As well as European police, the inquiry involved forces in Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada.