British Police halt massive child-porn ring

Police in Britain claim to have smashed the world's largest known paedophile ring, an exclusive internet operation known as the…

Police in Britain claim to have smashed the world's largest known paedophile ring, an exclusive internet operation known as the Wonderland Club.

It was run by a sophisticated group of paedophiles operating on a global scale and included extreme sexual images of children.

Members of the club, who described themselves as the cream of paedophiles, had to send in at least 10,000 indecent images of children to join.

The ring was smashed in the largest ever international operation to be co-ordinated by the National Crime Squad in London.

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Simultaneous raids took place around the world on September 2, 1998 with over 100 arrests in the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the United States.

A horrifying library of 750,000 computer images of more than 1,200 victims and 1,800 computerised videos depicting children suffering sexual abuse were found.

Police believe they now know the identities of about 180 members of Wonderland, which was set up in November 1996.

Mr Gary Salt, described by police as the club's chairman, was jailed in Manchester for 12 years for rape in July 1998.

Seven members arrested in Britain have now pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring with others to distribute indecent images of children. They will be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court in south west London next month and face a maximum three years in prison.

An eighth man arrested in Britain - Steven Ellis, a computer salesman from Earlham, Norwich - was charged but committed suicide in January 1999.

PA