Operation Ore
sample false statements
John Carr Home Office Advisor (NCH, CHIS, ACPO, IWF) letter to Hilary Ben (MP) 13/11/2002
As you know, the US authorities have handed over to the British National Criminal Intelligence Service a list containing the names of over 7,200 people, seemingly with UK addresses, who had bought child pornography from a web site owned by Landslide Inc., a company that was based in Texas. The British police then organized Operation Ore to structure and implement their response.
Jim Gamble (SOCA) All Party Internet Group 18/12/2002
If you consider operation Ore, in 1999 towards 7,000 people in the UK sat at their computers and accessed child abuse websites. Three or four years later, that investigation is on-going. It is because we have been able to go back, because that data was captured at the time, that we are now able to hold those suspects, where we can collect and collate evidence, to account. That, potentially, has been brought about because the data was available to us. If that data had not been available, if it had not been captured and preserved, then how would we have investigated 7,000 people who accessed hard core child abuse sites?
Bill Hughes SOCA to the media 29/01/2003
These sites can be horrendous. The Operation Ore sites showed newborn babies being brutalised.
In Canada, when the press accused the police of hounding internet child porn surfers, the police decided to show journalists a sample of the sites. "Several are still receiving counselling," Hughes says. "We couldn't do that here, but the police and the press must work together to ensure that we don't all become either too hysterical or too flippant.
online / archive Daily Telegraph
Hilary Benn MP in parliament 03/02/2003
I understand that 5,700 of the United Kingdom Operation Ore suspects are being investigated by Home Office police forces (the remainder are being investigated by Scottish Forces, Police Service of Northern Ireland and the island forces). In relation to those suspects, as of 23 January 2003, 1,512 searches have been carried out and 1,336 arrests have been made. 189 individuals have been charged.
National Crime Squad and Foreign and Commonwealth Office conference 22-24/03/2004
Operation LANDSLIDE in 1999 involved 35,000 US citizens and 6,500 UK citizens purchasing child abuse material on the Internet
online / archive Wilton Park Conference Centre
Judith Mallaber MP in parliament 18/05/2004
We have to make it clear that it has become the province of organised crime, which is making huge amounts of money out of it. The landslide website, which gave rise to Operation Ore, took $1.6 million in its last month of trading before United States police closed it down. Other pay-to-view websites still operate on a similar scale; I do not think that the full extent of the problem has been acknowledged.
Such appalling websites exist only because credit cards provide a payment mechanism for the gangsters who own them. Because of credit cards, men who are not paedophiles systematically arrange for children to be recruited and raped in front of cameras in order to provide new merchandise. The same applies to the violent images that are the main topic of this debate. We must deal with the problem. None of the criminals who set up the websites has been traced to the UK, but the people who buy their products have been, and we can take action on them, as Operation Ore has shown. In one day, the UK police were given the names of 7,200 purchasers of child pornography; 7,200 people who used credit cards to buy illegal images.
online / archive in parliament
Trevor Pearce (SOCA) written evidence to parliament 07/12/2004
The Paedophile On-Line Investigation Team (POLIT) is one of several specialised units within the NCS, and is charged with the investigation of on-line paedophilia, including the UK co-ordination of the now publicised Operation ORE. This operation started when, in 2001, the details of 7,272 British suspects who had accessed child abuse images on a US website with their credit cards were passed to UK authorities. Operation ORE subsequently became the largest ever single investigation into online activity of this nature.
online / archive in parliament
Margaret Moran MP in parliament 26/10/2005
Operation Ore, the massive police investigation into child internet pornography, identified over 7,000 people in the UK, including judges, doctors and teachers, who used their credit cards to download images of children being abused or even killed for their gratification. Police believe that that is the tip of the iceberg. Those who download such images say that they have committed no crime, but every single vile picture that includes babies and children being raped and tortured has destroyed an innocent life. Through the internet, criminal gangs are making money out of this misery. That has gone unchallenged for too long and the time has come to right this wrong.
online / archive in parliament
Judith Mallaber MP in parliament 12/01/2006
I understand that this individual was caught in Operation Ore, which netted thousands of UK citizens who downloaded images that are only on the internet because children have been abused by tracking their credit card use.
online / archive in Parliament
John Carr Home Office Advisor (NCH, CHIS, ACPO, IWF) 08/03/2006
'on the Landslide home page there were two buttons ... the great majority that were prosecuted pressed the button that said take me to the child pornography'
online
/
archive BBC Radio 5
in parliament
Commons Hansard (13/06/2007)
The Internet Watch Foundation will no doubt have
informed him that there is growing concern about the proliferation of commercial
child abuse sites, 90 per cent. of which involve children under 12 and60 per
cent. of which involve grade four or five images—the worst possible images.
speaker: Margaret Moran
Commons Hansard (07/02/2007)
When we were in Washington, we made very valuable
contacts with the FBI and NCMEC—the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, which does wonderful work in this area. They asked me to pass on their
congratulations to our Government on taking a lead on the issue by working with
the Internet Watch Foundation and setting up the Home Office taskforce.
speaker: Margaret Moran
Commons Hansard (20 Apr 2006)
Sitting suspended for a Division in the House.
One reason for that is because of initiatives such as
Operation Ore, through which we are trying to pin down all the paedophiles in
the world. I have been to Europol in The Hague and seen the Europol side of
Operation Ore. .....
speaker: Dr.
Brian Iddon
Commons Hansard (30 Mar 2006)
Adjournment (Easter)
Mr. First, people who are issued with cautions are entered
on to the sex offenders register, which is an important factor. Gentleman agrees
with me that not nearly enough resources were applied to Operation Ore in order
to pick up the large number of suspected cases of paedophilia that emerged from
it. .....
speaker: Mr.
Heath
Commons Hansard (12 Jan 2006)
Safeguarding Children
I understand that this individual was caught in Operation
Ore, which netted thousands of UK citizens who downloaded images that are only
on the internet because children have been abused by tracking their credit card
use. .....
speaker: Judy
Mallaber
Commons Hansard (26 Oct 2005)
Control of Internet Access (Child Pornography)
Operation Ore, the massive police investigation into child
internet pornography, identified over 7,000 people in the UK, including judges,
doctors and teachers, who used their credit cards to download images of children
being abused or even killed for their gratification. .....
speaker: Margaret
Moran
Select Committee Report (15 March 2005)
House of Commons - Welsh Affairs - Written Evidence
Operation ORE (paedophilia) The Paedophile On-Line
Investigation Team (POLIT) is one of several specialised units within the NCS,
and is charged with the investigation of on-line paedophilia, including the UK
co-ordination of the now publicised Operation ORE. .....
date: 15
March 2005
Commons Hansard (29 Nov 2004)
Home Affairs
Mr. Important issues surround Operation Ore and others
matters in which a high level of policing was achieved by sophisticated
techniques. It is almost as if no Government could possibly procure any IT
system, but that is manifestly daft. .....
speaker: Mr.
Andrew Miller
Lords Hansard (13 Oct 2004)
Pornography
But Operation Ore, which has been referred to, was
successful in exposing thousands of people in the UK who had downloaded illegal
images from foreign websites .....
speaker: Lord
Avebury
Lords Hansard (13 Oct 2004)
Pornography
I am concerned regarding the paucity of resources
targeting the problem. I understand that there are only 240 computer forensic
officers devoted to tackling this growing problem and most of them are focused
on Operation Ore and child pornography. .....
speaker: Baroness
Buscombe
Lords Hansard (13 Oct 2004)
Pornography
Operation Ore dealt with a single website, albeit a very
large one. The data in relation to that site were collected by the FBI via the
credit cards of 140,000 people worldwide—of whom I understood that 7,000 were in
the UK, although the figure of 6,000 has been mentioned.
.....
speaker: Baroness
Howe of Idlicote
Commons Hansard (15 Sept 2004)
International Trafficking of Women
In Operation Ore, we prosecuted or took action against
almost all those who had downloaded material in this country, but the United
States did not take action against many people, so, in some ways, it is well
behind us. .....
speaker: Judy
Mallaber
Commons Hansard (18 May 2004)
Internet (Extreme Images)
Much work has gone into tackling child pornography on the
internet through projects such as Operation Ore, and there have been results.
Operation Ore was a two-year investigation into internet paedophiles. .....
speaker: Mr.
Jonathan Djanogly
Commons Hansard (18 May 2004)
Internet (Extreme Images)
The landslide website, which gave rise to Operation Ore,
18 May 2004 : Column 183WH took $1.6 million in its last month of trading before
United States police closed it down. None of the criminals who set up the
websites has been traced to the UK, but the people who buy their products have
been, and we can take action on them, as Operation Ore has shown. .....
speaker: Judy
Mallaber
Commons Hansard (18 May 2004)
Internet (Extreme Images)
Brian White : Is my hon. Friend aware that there are only
240 computer forensic officers, most of whose tasks are based on Operation Ore
and child pornography or 18 May 2004 : Column 175WH terrorism. Internet (Extreme
Images) Internet (Extreme Images). .....
speaker: Brian
White
Select Committee Report (1 April 2004)
Q108 Brian White: What is happening at the moment is that
most of those computer forensic officers are attached to Operation Ore-child
pornography-except for when the murder of the day happens or international
terrorists are arrested, like they were this week. .....
date: 1
April 2004
Commons Written Answers (23 Mar 2004)
Internet Child Pornography
Paul Goggins: I understand that of approximately 6,000
suspects being investigated under Operation Ore, to date there have been 1,202
individuals charged and 655 convicted. There are no centrally aggregated figures
available for the number of cautions. . .....
speaker: Paul
Goggins
Commons Written Answers (23 Mar 2004)
Internet Child Pornography
Ms Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home
Department what percentage of individuals suspected of (a) making and (b)
possessing internet child pornography due to investigations carried out under
Operation Ore have been (i) cautioned, (ii) prosecuted and (iii) convicted.
.....
speaker: Ms
Shipley [159485]
Lords Written Answers (15 Mar 2004)
Internet Child Pornography
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government: What action
they are taking in conjunction with Internet service providers to limit access
to child pornography; and (b) convicted, as a result of the police Operation
Ore; .....
speaker: Baroness
Scotland of Asthal
Lords Written Answers (15 Mar 2004)
Internet Child Pornography
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government: What action
they are taking in conjunction with Internet service providers to limit access
to child pornography; and (b) convicted, as a result of the police Operation
Ore; .....
speaker: Lord
Hylton
Minute (Lords) (12 Mar 2004)
Minutes and Order Paper - Order Paper and Future Business
(HL1891) The Lord Hylton - To ask Her Majesty's Government
whether the renewed European Union and Organisation for Security and
Co-operation in Europe dialogue with Belarus will cover arms exports and
proliferation and the verification of end-uses for such exports. and (b)
convicted, as a result of the police "Operation Ore"; .....
Lords Hansard (11 Mar 2004) (match to cp)
Written answers
However, we are not currently aware of any evidence to support a direct
causal link between access to child pornography and the commission of sexual
offences against children. .....
Minute (Lords) (11 Mar 2004)
Minutes and Order Paper - Order Paper and Future Business
(HL1848) The Lord Astor of Hever - To ask Her Majesty's
Government what role they envisage for the United States in Bosnia-Herzegovina
once the European Union has taken over the military operation there. and (b)
convicted, as a result of the police "Operation Ore"; .....
Minute (Lords) (10 Mar 2004)
Minutes and Order Paper - Order Paper and Future Business
House of Lords Session 2003 - 04 Publications on the
internet Minutes and Order Papers Back to Judicial Business Items marked † The
Lord Norton of Louth-To call attention to the case for improving contact and
co-operation between the two Houses of Parliament; and (b) convicted, as a
result of the police "Operation Ore"; .....
Minute (Lords) (9 Mar 2004)
Minutes and Order Paper - Order Paper and Future Business
House of Lords Session 2003 - 04 Publications on the
internet Minutes and Order Papers Back to Judicial Business Items marked † The
Lord Norton of Louth-To call attention to the case for improving contact and
co-operation between the two Houses of Parliament; and (b) convicted, as a
result of the police "Operation Ore"; .....
Minute (Lords) (8 Mar 2004)
Minutes and Order Paper - Order Paper and Future Business
House of Lords Session 2003 - 04 Publications on the
internet Minutes and Order Papers Back to Judicial Business Items marked † The
Lord Norton of Louth-To call attention to the case for improving contact and
co-operation between the two Houses of Parliament; and (b) convicted, as a
result of the police "Operation Ore"; .....
Order Book (Friday 5 March 2004)
267 Ms Debra Shipley (Stourbridge):To ask the Secretary of
State for the Home Department, what percentage of individuals suspected of (a)
making and (b) possessing internet child pornography due to investigations
carried out under Operation Ore have been (i) cautioned, (ii) prosecuted and
(iii) convicted. .....
Minute (Lords) (5 Mar 2004)
Minutes and Order Paper - Order Paper and Future Business
House of Lords Session 2003 - 04 Publications on the
internet Minutes and Order Papers Back to Minutes Items marked † The Lord Norton
of Louth-To call attention to the case for improving contact and co-operation
between the two Houses of Parliament; and (b) convicted, as a result of the
police "Operation Ore"; .....
Minute (Lords) (4 Mar 2004)
Minutes and Order Paper - Order Paper and Future Business
[ DoH ] (HL1428) The Lord Russell-Johnston - To ask Her
Majesty's Government what is their response to the withdrawal by the
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe of accreditation of the
Chechen Information Centre in Warsaw, as a non-governmental organisation. and
(b) convicted, as a result of the police "Operation Ore"; .....
Lords Hansard (4 Mar 2004)
Anti-terrorism Review
Lord Browne-Wilkinson: My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord
Newton, chairman of the committee to which I also belonged, said, I was the only
non-politician in that body. sex offences, some of which were linked to
Operation Ore-which is the large American investigation-accounted for 9,157;
.....
speaker: Lord
Browne-Wilkinson
Minute (Lords) (3 Mar 2004)
Minutes and Order Paper - Order Paper and Future Business
The Lord Norton of Louth-To call attention to the case for
improving contact and co-operation between the two Houses of Parliament; and (b)
convicted, as a result of the police "Operation Ore"; and (b) convicted, as a
result of the police "Operation Ore"; .....
Select Committee Report (22 February 2004)
It was called in the UK Operation Ore, but you did not
hear that Operation Ore began with Interpol Operation Landslide. Had the US not
sent the information to Interpol, had Interpol not analysed it and sent it to
member countries, Operation Ore might not have happened. .....
Commons Hansard (19 Jan 2004)
Paedophiles
Fiona Mactaggart: This is an operational matter, for which
the police are responsible. There have been 277 convictions, and more than half
the names passed on through Operation Ore have been investigated. .....
speaker: Fiona
Mactaggart
Commons Hansard (19 Jan 2004)
Paedophiles
Mr. Mark Oaten (Winchester) (LD): More than 18 months ago,
the FBI gave the British police, under Operation Ore, the names of 5,000
individuals suspected of accessing and purchasing child porn. Does the Minister
share my concern that there has been a breakdown 19 Jan 2004 : Column 1058
there, and will she confirm to the House today that the Government still intend
those names to be investigated... .....
speaker: Mr.
Mark Oaten
Commons Written Answers (19 Nov 2003)
Sexual Offences
Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home
Department how many people have been (a) arrested, (b) charged, (c) convicted
and (d) sentenced to immediate custody in the course of Operation Ore; .....
speaker: Mr.
Oaten [139220]
Order Book (Monday 17 November 2003)
498 Mr Mark Oaten (Winchester): To ask the Secretary of
State for the Home Department, how many people have been (a) arrested, (b)
charged, (c) convicted and (d) sentenced to immediate custody in the course of
Operation Ore; .....
Commons Written Answers (6 Oct 2003)
Operation Ore
Ms Blears : The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
advises me that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) does not have a specific
'Operation Ore Child Protection Unit'. The MPS Child Protection Group manages
all child abuse investigations including all Operation Ore subjects. .....
speaker: Ms
Blears [holding answer 11 September 2003]
Commons Written Answers (6 Oct 2003)
Operation Ore
Paul Goggins : Investigations concerning Operation Ore are
carried out by paedophile units, child protection or investigation teams within
police forces, assisted by computer crime units. Ordnance Safety Board . .....
speaker: Paul
Goggins [holding answer 11 September 2003]
Commons Written Answers (6 Oct 2003)
Operation Ore
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home
Department how much has been spent on Operation Ore since it was set up. . House
of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 6 Oct 2003 (pt 63). House of Commons
Hansard Written Answers for 6 Oct 2003 (pt 63). .....
speaker: Tim
Loughton [129331]
Commons Written Answers (6 Oct 2003)
Operation Ore
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home
Department what changes are planned to the Operation Ore Child Protection Unit
operated by the Metropolitan police. House of Commons Hansard Written Answers
for 6 Oct 2003 (pt 63). .....
speaker: Tim
Loughton [129330]
Order Book (11 Sep 2003)
226 N Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham): To ask the
Secretary of State for the Home Department, what changes are planned to the
Operation Ore Child Protection Unit operated by the Metropolitan police. .....
Select Committee Report - Culture, Media and Sport (21 May 2003)
Operation Ore was interesting because there were so many
names which were clearly leaked and then were in the press prior to the people
being investigated or taken to court and now subsequently some of the names are
allegedly being obfuscated and other powers being brought to bear on the various
newspapers, and what have you. .....
Select Committee Report - Culture, Media and Sport (21 May 2003)
Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Minutes of
Evidence Examination of Witnesses (Questions 620-639) TUESDAY 25 MARCH 2003 M R
G UY B LACK , P ROFESSOR R OBERT P INKER , M S V IVIEN H EPWORTH AND M R L ES H
INTON 620. The payment by newspapers: I would draw your attention to Operation
Ore. .....
Commons Written Answers (28 Apr 2003)
Hilary Benn: Individuals who are being investigated as a
result of Operation Ore come from a wide range of professions, and it is not
appropriate for me to provide further details of what remain on-going
investigations. .....
speaker: Hilary
Benn
Commons Written Answers (28 Apr 2003)
speaker: Mr.
Paul Marsden [107199]
Order Book (Thursday 3 April 2003)
37 Mr Bernard Jenkin (North Essex): To ask the Secretary
of State for Defence, what the status is of Operation Resonate North; 209 Mr
Paul Marsden (Shrewsbury & Atcham): To ask the Secretary of State for the Home
Department, what categories of public figures are being investigated as part of
Operation Ore. .....
Commons Hansard (1 Apr 2003)
Ms Debra Shipley (Stourbridge): On the question of
banking, does the hon. Gentleman agree that Operation Ore, which worked through
credit cards, has had a shocking effect on the country? 1.31 pm 1.31 pm. .....
speaker: Ms
Debra Shipley
Order Book (Thursday 20 March 2003)
51 N Mr Bernard Jenkin (North Essex): To ask the Secretary
of State for Defence, what Royal Navy training exercises and planned deployments
have been cancelled as a result of Operation FRESCO. 227 N Adam Price
(Carmarthen East & Dinefwr): To ask the Prime Minister, whether he has been
informed of the identity of any of the individuals under investigation as part
of Operation Ore. .....
Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation (pt 1) (20 Mar 2003)
That power of seizure allows co-operation in
investigations into the proceeds of ICC crimes, for the purpose of ascertaining
whether an individual has benefited from such a crime, or in order to identify
property derived from such crime. The current police investigation Operation Ore
is an example of what I mean. .....
Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation (pt 2) (20 Mar 2003)
[ back to previous text ] Mr. Such publicity does nobody
any good. Member for South-East Cambridgeshire. Gentleman was that of paedophile
material, which is extremely topical in the context of Operation Ore, to which
the hon. .....
Commons Written Answers (20 Mar 2003)
Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister whether he has been
informed of the identity of any of the individuals under investigation as part
of Operation Ore. House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 20 Mar 2003 (pt
12). .....
Commons Written Answers (25 Feb 2003)
Operation Ore
Jane Kennedy: There are currently 39 people being
investigated by PSNI as a result of information received from Operation Ore. To
date there have been four arrests and one person charged. Paper Supplies . .....
speaker: Jane
Kennedy
Commons Written Answers (25 Feb 2003)
Operation Ore
Mrs. Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for
Northern Ireland how many people in Northern Ireland are being investigated as a
result of information received from Operation Ore; . House of Commons Hansard
Written Answers for 25 Feb 2003 (pt 41). .....
speaker: Mrs.
Iris Robinson [97639]
Order Book (Wednesday 12 February 2003)
WEDNESDAY 12th FEBRUARY
251 Mrs Iris Robinson (Strangford): To ask the Secretary
of State for Northern Ireland, how many people in Northern Ireland are being
investigated as a result of information received from Operation Ore; .....
Commons Written Answers (3 Feb 2003)
Child Pornography
Hilary Benn: I understand that 5,700 of the United Kingdom
Operation Ore suspects are being investigated by Home Office police forces (the
remainder are being investigated by Scottish Forces, Police Service of Northern
Ireland and the island forces). .....
speaker: Hilary
Benn
Commons Written Answers (3 Feb 2003)
Child Pornography
Ms Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home
Department how many people have been arrested in the course of Operation Ore;
and how many have been charged. . House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 3
Feb 2003 (pt 20). .....
speaker: Ms
Shipley [93480]
Order Book (Monday 27 January 2003)
MONDAY 27th JANUARY
57 N Mr Paul Keetch (Hereford): To ask the Secretary of
State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the impact of success for each
of the bidders in the future aircraft carrier programme on the possibility of
future co-operation with France on the construction of a new French carrier; 411
Ms Debra Shipley (Stourbridge): To ask the Secretary of State for the Home
Department, how many people... .....
Order Book (Wednesday 22 January 2003)
WEDNESDAY 22nd JANUARY
161 David Davis (Haltemprice & Howden): To ask the
Secretary of State for Health, how many people waited over 12 months for an
operation in Hull and the East Riding in the last year for which figures are
available. 264 Mr Kevin McNamara (Kingston upon Hull North): To ask the
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many PSNI officers are under
investigation in the Operation Ore inquiry; .....
Lords Hansard (19 Nov 2002)
Sex Offenders
The recent Operation Ore, investigating over 7,200 people
who have bought indecent images of children from a website in the US,
highlighted the enormous task facing the police dealing with Internet related
cases of child abuse. .....
speaker: Lord
Dholakia