Online investigators took over the running of Timothy Cox’s internet child abuse network for ten days to amass evidence against hundreds of suspects around the world.

Details of the ongoing operation were revealed yesterday after a key organiser of the chatroom was jailed.

Hi-tech crime experts in different timezones kept the “Kids the Light of Our Lives” chat room online around the clock to ensnare as many offenders as possible, representing an unprecedented level of international cooperation by the Virtual Global Taskforce to combat online child abuse.

Led by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) in Britain, the operation also involved internet crime fighters in Australia, Canada and the United States.

Jim Gamble, the head of Ceop, said investigators had deployed techniques usually seen in counter-terrorism or fighting organised crime to infiltrate and dismantle the network.

The fast-paced inquiry began in late August last year when Toronto police told Ceop they believed that the organiser of a network hosting live child abuse was resident in Britain.

Ceop investigators tracked the site to Buxhall, Suffolk, from where the Cox family ran a microbrewery, a charity lottery company and other businesses. The host of the chat room was identified as Timothy Cox and a decision was made to arrest him and take control of the network.

Cox, known online as “Son of God”, was detained in a raid and a message was posted on the site telling users that he had gone for tea and would be back in 30 minutes.

When “Son of God” went online again, however, he was not Cox, but an investigator. For the next ten days British, Australian and Canadian officers masqueraded as Cox.

One said: “The users of the chat room never questioned anything because as far as they knew they were talking to ‘Son of God’. He had told them that their details were protected in the chat room.

“He was wrong. Everyone entering the room had their details captured.”

When Gordon McIntosh resurrected the room in December 2006 Ceop struck again. After his arrest the site was run by investigators for a further three days.

Mr Gamble said that Cox’s chat room was a place where “high-risk paedophiles” felt safe. The conviction of their kingpin showed that offenders were not safe online.

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