How cutting-edge technology helped bring down a paedophile ring

Cutting-edge technology and a specialist sniffer dog that seeks out electronic devices helped bring down a paedophile ring.

Merseyside Police's Sex Offender Unit launched an investigation after a piece of software called the eSafe Global monitoring service flagged that 27-year-old Connor Jackson may have an illegal image on his mobile phone.After officers began a probe into Jackson, who was already on the sex offenders register, they found WhatsApp messages between him and a man called Thomas Stanley, a pervert with convictions for child rape with whom Jackson had struck a friendship whilst in prison.

Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features

Stanley had sent him a video of another screen, displaying an indecent video of a boy. The video was followed up with the message: “Not the best quality but I’ll get a USB for you tomorrow.”

The chat meant Stanley was in breach of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order, prohibiting him from associating with other registered sex offenders, the Liverpool Echo reports.

Raids were carried out simultaneously at the home of Jackson in Seel Street, Liverpool City Centre, and Stanley, in Phoenix Brow, St Helens, in March. The raids included the use of a "specialist digital media search dog" – Police Dog Stanley.

The dogs are trained to sniff out any devices that could have electronic storage, such as mobile phones, USB memory sticks and even SIM cards. As a result of PD Stanley's work, a number of items were recovered at Thomas Stanley’s home, including the USB stick referred to in the messages.

The device was found to contain Category A images, defined in law as depicting the most severe forms of child abuse including rape, as well as