SEVEN people from Coventry have been arrested as part of a police operation targeting suspected paedophiles.
They are suspected of accessing and viewing indecent images of children online and were arrested as part of a nationwide National Crime Agency operation.
In the West Midlands 39 men and two women were arrested while 660 were made across the whole of the UK.
Police said 18 children in the region were also safeguarded as a result of the operation.
Detective Superintendent Martin Hurcomb, from the force’s Public Protection Unit, said: “The majority of those arrested were not previously known to law enforcement agencies – certainly in a child protection context – however they are now and they will stay in our sights.
“Details of how the suspects were tracked down are not being revealed as we want paedophiles to be uncertain about how we identify them – offenders need to know that the internet is not a safe anonymous space for accessing indecent images.
“Protecting children who are victims of, or who might be at risk of sexual exploitation is an absolute priority for the force.”
