§ Nick HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been charged with distribution of child pornography on the internet as a result of investigations by the Obscene Publications and Internet Unit in each of the past 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [38138]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThere is no separate offence of distributing child pornography on the internet.
The internet investigations team of the Metropolitan police Obscene Publication Unit was established in September 2000. Distribution of child pornography by means of the internet is a relatively recent phenomenon and figures for the full period requested are not available. Figures for 1995–2001 are as follows:
980W
Number 1995 1 1996 9 1997 4
Number 1998 1 1999 2 2000 16 2001 21 These figures do not include offenders identified through investigations by the internet team of the Obscene Publications Unit who were outside the Metropolitan police area.
§ Nick HarveyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted of distributing child pornography across the internet in each of the past 10 years; and if he will make a statement. [38139]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyConvictions for distributing pornography are not directly identifiable on the Home Office Court Proceedings database. This is because all offences under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1978 are covered in a single group.