A team of international investigators infiltrated an Internet chat room used by pedophiles who streamed live videos of children being raped, rescuing 31 children and identifying more than 700 suspects worldwide. Undercover officers in Britain, the US, Canada and Australia busted up the pedophile ring using surveillance techniques more commonly associated with fighting terrorism and organized crime. More than 15 children were found in Britain. A Canadian official said authorities there arrested 24 Canadians and rescued seven Canadian children as part of the probe. Four people have been arrested in Australia, including one who was previously convicted of child pornography charges. Investigators made the case public after the sentencing of ringleader Timothy David Martyn Cox. Cox, 27, was given an indeterminate jail sentence, meaning he will remain in prison until authorities decide he is no longer a threat to children. One of his accomplices, Gordon Mackintosh, has pleaded guilty to 27 charges of making , possessing and distributing indecent images and videos. He is awaiting sentencing. "You could go and if you were in the club, arrange a time and a place when online you could view a child being raped and brutalized in real time," said Jim Gamble, chief executive of Britain's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center.
(London, England)