One child a day saved from web sex abuse

In the past 12 months alone, 414 children from across the UK have been saved - more than one a day. It is the highest number in the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) centre's history.

In total, CEOP has safeguarded more than 1,000 children since its creation in 2006.

New annual figures from the agency show it has dismantled more than 394 high-risk sex offender networks in the past five years.

The UK taskforce's aim is to track online paedophiles and bring them to court.

A record 132 networks were dismantled in the last year and the unit's actions also led to a record 513 arrests, taking the total number of suspected paedophiles it has helped apprehend to 1,644.

Peter Davies, CEOP chief executive, warned the battle was far from over.

He said: "Crimes against children are for me the most horrendous crimes and too many times the victim suffers in silence. We need to encourage ever more reporting and understanding, we need to work to prevent the crime happening in the first place and we need to pursue the offender no matter how complex the methods they use to hide their activity."

CEOP is currently affiliated to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), but will be merged with the new National Crime Agency to be created in 2013.

The move prompted the resignation of former head, Jim Gamble, over concerns it was driven by a desire to cut quangos rather than save children.

However, Mr Davies argued the unit would retain its own budget and maintain "its own brand, its own approach and its own dedication to putting the safety and well-being of children first".

He added: "I think today's figures show that we are shining light in to those dark places, we are bringing this crime more into the open and are working collectively with many others to break down the taboos and obstacles that stop children getting the help and support they need.

"We can do that with confidence."

In her foreword to the report, Home Secretary Theresa May added that the move will enable CEOP to "draw on wider resources and support to help keep even more children safe from harm in the future".

The unit's annual review also sets out plans to "address the self-generated risk that children place themselves in, understanding and working in partnership to safeguard technological advances and focusing on specialist areas such as the trafficking of children and young people", a CEOP spokesman said.

Angela Constance, minister for children and young people at the Scottish Government, welcomed CEOP's success.

"These figures demonstrate the value of sharing knowledge and resources to protect our children and bring the perpetrators of crime to justice," she said.

"The Scottish Government works with the CEOP to develop a central one-stop resource across the UK to tackle on-line safety issues.

"We recently re-launched our action plan and marketing campaign to improve the safety of children on the internet and prevent problems such as cyber bullying, internet fraud and online grooming."In March this year CEOP revealed an operation with Lothian and Borders Police had resulted in the arrested of a female paedophile, who was later sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

In November 2009, Central Scotland Police found 1,700 men from Scotland and beyond carrying out "sexualised chat" with 150 children as young as eight.