Operation Ore
Encyclopedia
Operation Ore was a British police operation that commenced in 1999 following information received from US law enforcement, which was intended to prosecute thousands of users of a website reportedly featuring child pornography
. In the United Kingdom
, it led to 7,250 suspects identified, 4,283 homes searched, 3,744 arrests, 1,848 charged, 1,451 convictions, 493 cautioned and 140 children removed from suspected dangerous situations and an estimated 39 suicides. While Operation Ore did identify and prosecute a number of sex offenders, the validity of the police procedures was later questioned, as errors in the investigations were claimed by some to have resulted in a large number of false arrests.
Operation Ore followed the similar crackdown in the United States
, called Operation Avalanche, though in the US only 100 people were charged from the 35,000 US access records available.
-based online pornography portal operated by Thomas and Janice Reedy. The portal was found to have provided access to child pornography and the Reedys were both convicted of trafficking child pornography in August 2001.
Following the investigation and conviction "Operation Avalanche" was launched, in the US, to trace and prosecute child pornography users identified in the Landslide database. In addition the website was run for a short time as part of a sting operation
by the FBI to capture new suspects. The FBI also passed identities from the Landslide database to the police organizations of other countries, including 7,272 names to the UK.
In all, 3,744 people were investigated and arrested. The charge of possession of child pornography was used where evidence was found, but the lesser charge of incitement was used in those cases where a user's details were on the Landslide database but no images were found on the suspect's computer or in his home. Because of the number of names on the FBI list, the scale of the investigation in the UK was overwhelming to the police, who appealed to the government for emergency funding for the case. Reportedly, several million pounds were spent in the investigations, and complaints mounted that other investigations were put at risk because of the diversion of the resources of child protection units into the case.
Information from the Operation Ore list of names was leaked to the press early in 2003. In January the Daily Mail
first led with a story implicating a "legendary British rock star." After obtaining the list, the Sunday Times stated that it included the names of a number of prominent individuals, some of which were later published by the press. The Sunday Times reported that the list included at least twenty senior executives, a senior teacher at an exclusive girl's public school, personnel from military bases, GPs, university academics and civil servants, a famous newspaper columnist, a song writer for a legendary pop band, a member of a chart-topping 1980s cult pop group, and an official with the Church of England. An investigation followed the leak, and police complained that the advance warning would allow suspected paedophiles to dispose of evidence. A police officer was reported to have lost his job for leaking the names.
exposed these flaws in a series of articles in 2005 and 2007.
It was a serious error that UK police received no information on the scale of the credit card fraud which had occurred within the Landslide business. Many of the charges at the Landslide affiliated sites were made using stolen credit card information, and the police arrested the real owners of the credit cards, not the actual viewers. Plus, thousands of credit card charges were made where there was no access to a site, or access to only a dummy site. When the police finally checked, they found 54,348 occurrences of stolen credit card information in the Landslide database. The British police failed to provide this information to the defendants, and in some cases implied that they had checked and found no evidence of credit card fraud when no such check had been done. Because of the nature of the charges, children were removed from homes immediately. In the two years it took the police to determine that thousands had been falsely accused, over one hundred children had been removed from their homes and denied any unsupervised time with their fathers. The arrests also led to a number of suicides
One man was charged when the sole "suspicious" image in his possession was of young-looking — but adult — actress Melissa-Ashley. Also arrested were Massive Attack
's Robert Del Naja
(later cleared) and The Who
's guitarist Pete Townshend
, who was cautioned by the police after acknowledging a credit card access to the Landslide website. However, Duncan Campbell
later stated in PC Pro
magazine that their credit card charges and IP addresses were traced through the Landslide site, and both were found to have accessed sites which had nothing to do with child pornography. The actor and writer Chris Langham
was among those convicted.
Independent investigators later obtained both the database records and video of the Landslide raid. When this information was presented in a UK court, Michael Mead of the United States Postal Service contradicted his US testimony under oath regarding several details relating to the investigation. As a result of the errors exposed in the cases, a number of people arrested in Operation Ore filed a group action law suit in 2006 against the detectives behind Operation Ore, alleging false arrest.
After Campbell's articles appeared, the independent computer expert Jim Bates who analyzed the hard drives was charged and convicted of four counts of making false statements and one count of perjury regarding his qualifications and barred from appearing as an expert witness. Bates's judgement has been called into question on a number of other matters. Bates was later arrested for possession of indecent images during his Operation Ore investigations. However, the search of Bates home was ruled as unlawful, as the Police had applied for the search warrant using the wrong section of PACE
, and the Police were unable to examine any of the material seized from his house.
CEOP and particularly its Chief Executive, Jim Gamble, were accused of using vague terms which do not have a recognised meaning within either child protection or law enforcement when they defended the operation.
On 6 December 2010, senior Court of Appeal judges rejected the appeal of Anthony O’Shea, stating that they were "entirely confident that the appellant was rightly convicted". The judgement states in relation to the appellant's assertions regarding the claim that his IP address had been disguised: “These suggestions are fanciful in the extreme. The appellant’s theory (for it is no more than such) that he [Mr O’Shea] was the victim of the machinations of a fraudulent webmaster is, in our view, pure speculation.” Jim Bates, an expert witness and critic of Operation Ore, was criticised for misleading comments during the hearing. The appeal had been considered to be a landmark case where success could have led to many of the other convictions achieved as a result of Ore being overturned.
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, it led to 7,250 suspects identified, 4,283 homes searched, 3,744 arrests, 1,848 charged, 1,451 convictions, 493 cautioned and 140 children removed from suspected dangerous situations and an estimated 39 suicides. While Operation Ore did identify and prosecute a number of sex offenders, the validity of the police procedures was later questioned, as errors in the investigations were claimed by some to have resulted in a large number of false arrests.
Operation Ore followed the similar crackdown in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, called Operation Avalanche, though in the US only 100 people were charged from the 35,000 US access records available.
US investigation
Between 1999 and 2001, after a tip off, a US investigation was conducted into Landslide Productions Inc, a TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
-based online pornography portal operated by Thomas and Janice Reedy. The portal was found to have provided access to child pornography and the Reedys were both convicted of trafficking child pornography in August 2001.
Following the investigation and conviction "Operation Avalanche" was launched, in the US, to trace and prosecute child pornography users identified in the Landslide database. In addition the website was run for a short time as part of a sting operation
Sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
by the FBI to capture new suspects. The FBI also passed identities from the Landslide database to the police organizations of other countries, including 7,272 names to the UK.
Operation Ore
In May 2002, Operation Ore was implemented in the UK to investigate and prosecute the Landslide users whose names were provided by the FBI. Police conducting Operation Ore targeted all names on the list for investigation due to the difference in laws in between the US and the UK, which allowed for arrest on a charge of incitement to distribute child pornography based solely on the presence of a name in the database.In all, 3,744 people were investigated and arrested. The charge of possession of child pornography was used where evidence was found, but the lesser charge of incitement was used in those cases where a user's details were on the Landslide database but no images were found on the suspect's computer or in his home. Because of the number of names on the FBI list, the scale of the investigation in the UK was overwhelming to the police, who appealed to the government for emergency funding for the case. Reportedly, several million pounds were spent in the investigations, and complaints mounted that other investigations were put at risk because of the diversion of the resources of child protection units into the case.
Information from the Operation Ore list of names was leaked to the press early in 2003. In January the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
first led with a story implicating a "legendary British rock star." After obtaining the list, the Sunday Times stated that it included the names of a number of prominent individuals, some of which were later published by the press. The Sunday Times reported that the list included at least twenty senior executives, a senior teacher at an exclusive girl's public school, personnel from military bases, GPs, university academics and civil servants, a famous newspaper columnist, a song writer for a legendary pop band, a member of a chart-topping 1980s cult pop group, and an official with the Church of England. An investigation followed the leak, and police complained that the advance warning would allow suspected paedophiles to dispose of evidence. A police officer was reported to have lost his job for leaking the names.
Controversies
After 2003 Operation Ore came under closer scrutiny, with police forces in the UK being criticised for their handling of the operation. The most common criticism was that they failed to determine whether or not the owners of credit cards in Landslide's database actually accessed any sites containing child porn, unlike in the US where it was determined in advance whether or not credit card subscribers had purchased child porn. Investigative journalist Duncan CampbellDuncan Campbell (investigative journalist)
Duncan Campbell is a British freelance investigative journalist, author and television producer who, since 1975, has specialised in the subjects of intelligence and security services, defence, policing, civil liberties and, latterly, computer forensics. He was a staff writer at the New Statesman...
exposed these flaws in a series of articles in 2005 and 2007.
It was a serious error that UK police received no information on the scale of the credit card fraud which had occurred within the Landslide business. Many of the charges at the Landslide affiliated sites were made using stolen credit card information, and the police arrested the real owners of the credit cards, not the actual viewers. Plus, thousands of credit card charges were made where there was no access to a site, or access to only a dummy site. When the police finally checked, they found 54,348 occurrences of stolen credit card information in the Landslide database. The British police failed to provide this information to the defendants, and in some cases implied that they had checked and found no evidence of credit card fraud when no such check had been done. Because of the nature of the charges, children were removed from homes immediately. In the two years it took the police to determine that thousands had been falsely accused, over one hundred children had been removed from their homes and denied any unsupervised time with their fathers. The arrests also led to a number of suicides
One man was charged when the sole "suspicious" image in his possession was of young-looking — but adult — actress Melissa-Ashley. Also arrested were Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
's Robert Del Naja
Robert Del Naja
Robert Del Naja , also known as 3D, is an English artist and musician. Initially gaining notoriety as a graffiti artist and member of the Bristol collective known as "The Wild Bunch", Del Naja went on to become a founding member of the band Massive Attack where he is active to this day.-Music:Del...
(later cleared) and The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's guitarist Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
, who was cautioned by the police after acknowledging a credit card access to the Landslide website. However, Duncan Campbell
Duncan Campbell (investigative journalist)
Duncan Campbell is a British freelance investigative journalist, author and television producer who, since 1975, has specialised in the subjects of intelligence and security services, defence, policing, civil liberties and, latterly, computer forensics. He was a staff writer at the New Statesman...
later stated in PC Pro
PC Pro
PC Pro is one of several computer magazines published monthly in the United Kingdom by Dennis Publishing. PC Pro also licenses individual articles for republication in various countries around the world - and some articles are translated into local languages...
magazine that their credit card charges and IP addresses were traced through the Landslide site, and both were found to have accessed sites which had nothing to do with child pornography. The actor and writer Chris Langham
Chris Langham
Christopher "Chris" Langham is an English writer, actor and comedian. He is most famous for playing MP Hugh Abbot in BBC Four sitcom The Thick of It and as presenter Roy Mallard in People Like Us, first on BBC Radio 4 and later on its transfer to television on BBC Two, where Mallard is almost...
was among those convicted.
Independent investigators later obtained both the database records and video of the Landslide raid. When this information was presented in a UK court, Michael Mead of the United States Postal Service contradicted his US testimony under oath regarding several details relating to the investigation. As a result of the errors exposed in the cases, a number of people arrested in Operation Ore filed a group action law suit in 2006 against the detectives behind Operation Ore, alleging false arrest.
After Campbell's articles appeared, the independent computer expert Jim Bates who analyzed the hard drives was charged and convicted of four counts of making false statements and one count of perjury regarding his qualifications and barred from appearing as an expert witness. Bates's judgement has been called into question on a number of other matters. Bates was later arrested for possession of indecent images during his Operation Ore investigations. However, the search of Bates home was ruled as unlawful, as the Police had applied for the search warrant using the wrong section of PACE
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 is an Act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, as well as providing codes of practice for the exercise of those powers. Part VI of PACE required the Home Secretary...
, and the Police were unable to examine any of the material seized from his house.
CEOP and particularly its Chief Executive, Jim Gamble, were accused of using vague terms which do not have a recognised meaning within either child protection or law enforcement when they defended the operation.
On 6 December 2010, senior Court of Appeal judges rejected the appeal of Anthony O’Shea, stating that they were "entirely confident that the appellant was rightly convicted". The judgement states in relation to the appellant's assertions regarding the claim that his IP address had been disguised: “These suggestions are fanciful in the extreme. The appellant’s theory (for it is no more than such) that he [Mr O’Shea] was the victim of the machinations of a fraudulent webmaster is, in our view, pure speculation.” Jim Bates, an expert witness and critic of Operation Ore, was criticised for misleading comments during the hearing. The appeal had been considered to be a landmark case where success could have led to many of the other convictions achieved as a result of Ore being overturned.
External links
- Townshend arrested over child porn The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
14 January 2003 - "Operation Avalanche: Tracking child porn", BBC News, 11 November 2002.
- "Operation Ore flawed by fraud" The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
19 April 2007 - Child porn suspects blame fraud BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
10 May 2007 - They Stole My Life The SunThe Sun (newspaper)The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
3 April 2008 - "Police face £750k bill for false Operation Ore charges" by Christopher WIlliams, The Telegraph, By Christopher WIlliams, 2 Apr 2011