One in seven paedophiles escape arrest because police don’t have ‘strong internet spying powers’ claims Minister
Security Minister to urge MPs to throw out bid by Lords to water down Investigatory Powers Bill
ONE in seven paedophiles are now escaping arrest because police don’t have strong enough internet spying powers, the Security Minister will today tell MPs.
A further 58 per cent — a clear majority — of child sex abusers’ accomplices caught online are also able to evade conviction because they can’t be identified.
The chilling new statistics come as the Commons is today urged to throw out a bid by the Lords to water down the crucial new Investigatory Powers Bill.
The landmark law will order internet giants to store all connection records for a year, giving detectives the proof they need once they are granted a warrant.
Security Minister Ben Wallace told The Sun last night: “If we are to put away these loathsome paedophiles and safeguard our children, then it is vital we give the police the powers to keep one step ahead.
If we are to put away these loathsome paedophiles then it is vital we give the police the powers to keep one step ahead
Ben Wallace
“The Investigatory Powers Bill is essential to keeping us all safe.”
The new analysis comes from a study of more than 6,000 referrals made to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command of the National Crime Agency.
A total of 862 of them — or 14 per cent — went nowhere because specialist detectives didn’t have their access to web browsing history.
And in 3,470 of their investigations — 58 per cent — additional devices and accounts could not be found because of the missing data, meaning other suspects went free.
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Crossbench peer Baroness Hollins hijacked the bill in the House of Lords two weeks ago with a bid to implement a recommendation from the Leveson Inquiry on press standards.
In a separate move, Chancellor Philip Hammond will today detail how the government will spend £1.9bn of new money on extra cyber security protection.
The giant cash sum was announced by his predecessor George Osborne last year.
Mr Hammond will unveil a new Cyber Security Research Institute – where the nation’s best universities will pool their latest thinking online on how to better protect smart phones, tablets and laptops.
The work may soon make account passwords obsolete.
The Chancellor said last night: “Britain is already an acknowledged global leader in cyber security thanks to our investment of over £860m in the last Parliament.
“But we must now keep up with the scale and pace of the threats we face.”