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International co-operation leads to success of INTERPOL’s public appeal to identify an unknown man in child sex abuse images
29 April, 2009
INTERPOL with its database of Child Sexual Abuse Images serves as a hub for police working globally to counter sexual exploitation of children, aiding police nationally to identify victims and bring the perpetrators to justice. INTERPOL’s database is a vital tool to law enforcement around the world.
On a daily basis, INTERPOL works with dedicated officers from its Virtual Global Taskforce (VGT) partners and other INTERPOL member countries with this co-operation leading to significant results in the identification and rescue of children around the world.
Some cases of child sexual abuse are particularly hard to investigate. When all avenues of normal investigation in identifying a perpetrator have been exhausted, INTERPOL can, according to rules laid down by its General Assembly, approach the public in seeking their help.
This was first done in October 2007 with the launch of Operation VICO, where INTERPOL requested the public’s assistance in identifying a man depicted abusing young children in South-East Asia. INTERPOL received a number of tips which led to the arrest of Canadian citizen Christopher Paul Neil in Thailand just ten days after the appeal was made public. Neil is currently in custody in Thailand awaiting trial.
In the spring of 2006, a man was arrested in Norway on suspicion of abusing children in Thailand. This investigation began months before as a result of his images being found by the Canadian RCMP National Child Exploitation Coordination Center (NCECC) and sent to Norway via INTERPOL’s Child Exploitation Unit. In the suspect’s computer, the investigators retrieved images of another man abusing children who appeared to be South-East Asian. These images were sent to INTERPOL and investigated within the global network of dedicated officers. Additional images were received from around the world where in total, the suspected child sex predator was featured in approximately 100 images in a series of around 800, believed to have been taken in South-East Asia and depicting the sexual abuse of at least three boys, aged approximately between six and 10 years old.
Unfortunately, despite an extensive two-year investigation, the man’s nationality and identity were still unknown to law enforcement. Norway, as lead country on the investigation at that time, then requested INTERPOL to make a public appeal for his identification.
Operation IDent was launched on May 6 from INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon, France. The press coverage of the operation was, as with Operation VICO, extensive and global. Soon after the launch, tips started coming in to INTERPOL, where they were received, assessed and then dispatched to the countries concerned by a team of specialized officers. Three separate individuals living in the United States all provided information identifying the same suspect, and in the early hours of May 8, exactly 48 hours after the launch of the appeal, the suspected child sex abuser, Wayne Nelson Corliss, aged 58, from Union City, New Jersey, was arrested by Special Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Newark Office of Investigations.
“At the launch of the operation, this man’s nationality, identity and location were totally unknown. All we had to go by were a series of graphic photographs in which the suspect was seen sexually abusing young children and our confidence that the public and police worldwide would once again respond to INTERPOL’s call for assistance. That just two days later, the primary suspect is now in custody is an outstanding achievement and a credit to the citizens, media and law enforcement worldwide who responded to INTERPOL’s call,” said INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble.
“The arrest made this morning by ICE agents in Newark, of a highly sought child predator suspect, is an outstanding example of international law enforcement partnership to keep children safe both in our countries and around the world,” said Julie L. Myers, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for ICE. “Their work and the incredible response from the public to INTERPOL’s call for assistance made this arrest possible. All who value the safety and well-being of children should be heartened by this success.”
“I commend the work of law enforcement authorities in all our member countries who were involved in this operation but especially Norway for providing us with the legal basis to launch this global appeal and to ICE agents on the ground and the U.S. National Central Bureau of INTERPOL in the U.S. for their continued efforts to help INTERPOL fight the awful crime of the sexual abuse of children worldwide. In addition, I want to once again thank the public and media for their contribution because it is absolutely clear that without their help, we would never have been able to identify, locate and arrest either of the targets of Operation IDent or Operation Vico,” added Secretary General Noble.
“Cases like Operation Vico and Operation IDent show us all that keeping our children safe from sexual predators at home in the 21st century can best be achieved by ensuring that strong local, national and international police institutions cooperate seamlessly across borders and across the digital divide worldwide.”
There were almost 250,000 visits to INTERPOL’s website within the first 24 hours of the launch of the global appeal - more than ten times the daily average.
An investigation starting in Canada led to an arrest in Norway, which then led to the discovery of a new perpetrator, who is now in custody in the United States. This clearly demonstrates how borderless this area of investigation is and the need for law enforcement to work to counter this crime. The Virtual Global Taskforce was established to aid units working in this crime area and make both the real and virtual worlds a more hostile place for child sex offenders.