46 held as paedophile ring targeted

More than 20 police forces have been involved in co-ordinating the UK response to an Italian-based website that had more than 2,500 customers in 19 countries.

The website sold tailor-made videos of children being abused, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop) Centre said.

The investigation, codenamed Operation Koala, began in 2006 when a child abuse video made in Belgium was discovered in Australia. The video was traced back to a 42-year-old Italian who was running a website selling more than 150 self-made, sexually explicit videos of young girls.

Police discovered the business had been running for 18 months and generated considerable profits from up to 2,500 customers worldwide.

The abusive material was mainly produced in the man's private studio with some material filmed in Belgium and the Netherlands. One of the videos sold by the Italian suspect showed a father sexually abusing his daughters aged nine and 11, a Ceop spokesman said.

Some customers even travelled to the studio to watch and record the abuse and make their own videos.

After the man was arrested, the Italian authorities uncovered a hoard of customer details that were forwarded to other European forces.

The evidence was examined by experts at Ceop's London headquarters and details of suspects were sent to UK forces.

Jim Gamble, chief executive of Ceop, said further arrests are expected in connection with the global investigation. He said: "Yet again we see the technology used by paedophiles to facilitate child abuse now turned against them as a result of co-ordinated and effective international law enforcement cooperation. Operation Koala uncovered the true meaning of 'online child abuse' - in this case, the exchanging of images in which real children were subjected to horrific sexual abuse, often to order."