The UK should consider introducing laws to confiscate the homes of people who commit online child sexual exploitation, a senior police chief has said.
Detective Chief Inspector Simon Welch, the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s economic crime coordinator, said he was open to the UK following the example of n federal officers, who have started seizing the property of convicted paedophiles and those involved in online abuse.
Last year ‘s Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce successfully applied to the Supreme Court to have a 34-year-old paedophile’s home – worth 375,000 n dollars, or around £180,000 – forfeited.
The home was then sold and used for crime prevention, law enforcement and community initiatives, although the move was also intended as a deterrent to other offenders.
DCI Welch said the UK should consider whether UK law – which typically allows for the forfeiture of property under the Proceeds of Crime Act – should be updated to allow for criminals’ assets to be confiscated, even if they do not appear to be making money from their offending.
The City of London Police officer told the Daily Mail: ‘The n model is an interesting one. And in the right circumstances I am not against it (house possession).
‘If it is a serial offender and you take things off them, why not?
‘There is massive caution around it but we need to look at what we can do to control them.
‘We should explore if it is a possibility for the highest level of offenders to counter the criminality.
‘If we have got high-level, prolific offenders, to what extent can we pursue them to make examples of them?
‘This (online child sexual exploitation) is such a problem. There must be consequences for this sort of behaviour.’
He was speaking in London following a landmark report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) international money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, which called for the illicit funds that drive online child exploitation to be stopped.
Around 300 million children across the world – roughly one in eight – is reckoned to be affected by online sexual abuse and exploitation every year, with sophisticated criminals exploiting encryption, anonymous financial transactions, and weak international cooperation to evade detection.
The report identified ways that governments, financial institutions, and technology companies can take to disrupt these financial networks and prevent the exploitation of children.
Emma Reynolds, the Treasury minister responsible for tackling economic crime, told the summit in London that it was crucial for the private sector to identify suspicious activity and uncover victims of online sexual exploitation.
She told delegates: ‘Our message is clear – to those who seek to harm our children, we are closing the net in on you. We will identify you, we will find you, and you will face justice. We have issued a united commitment to acting… but this is just the start.’