Child sexual abuse: Four held in German-led raid on huge network 

  • German police have arrested three men and a fourth is being held in Paraguay for allegedly running one of the world’s biggest online networks for sharing images of child sex abuse. 
  • The international operation, involving several police forces in the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, the US and Canada, targeted a dark net platform called Boystown, which has now been taken down. 
  • Officials say Boystown had more than 400,000 registered users.
  • They say some images showed the most serious sexual abuse of young children. 
  • The dark net is an internet area beyond the reach of mainstream search engines.
  • For the full story, select here. 

    Apetamin: Instagram criticised over weight gain drug 

    • NHS England has urged Instagram to clamp down on accounts selling an unlicensed, “dangerous” drug mainly targeted at younger women and girls. 
    • The sale of Apetamin is illegal in the UK, but BBC Three revealed it is available in shops and online. 
    • In an open letter, NHS leaders say they are concerned about the product’s promotion and the impact on physical and mental health. 
    • Instagram say selling non-medical drugs is “strictly against our policies”. 
    • Apetamin is not licensed in the UK which means the regulator has not carried out tests to ensure it meets strict safety standards and it should not be sold, supplied or advertised. 
    • Doctors say misuse of the appetite stimulant can cause severe fatigue, jaundice and even liver failure.
    • For the full story, select here.

      Bill of Rights underpinned by UNCRC could be ‘transformative’ for children 

      • A Bill of Rights, with the inclusion of specific children’s rights, underpinned by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), could be transformative for children in Northern Ireland, the Children’s Law Centre has said. 
      • The list of issues facing children in Northern Ireland was recently highlighted in an NGO stakeholder report to the UNCRC Committee, which illustrated how decades of systemic failure around children’s rights have had a devastating impact on children’s lives, with Covid-19 further exacerbating problems. 
      • After presenting evidence to the NI Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on a Bill of Rights, Children’s Law Centre Director, Paddy Kelly, said: “At the Children’s Law Centre, we firmly believe that a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland could provide a new dawn for children here”. 
      • For the full story, select here. 

      Ofsted highlights failings at school rocked by investigation into ‘abuse and neglect’

      • An Ofsted report into a school under a police investigation into alleged abuse and neglect has found “considerable weaknesses in safeguarding arrangements”. 
      • Build-a-Future Independent School, in West Ashby, near Horncastle, was inspected on February 23 and 24 and the findings published on April 20.
      • Three men, one in his 20s and two in their 30s, and a woman in her 50s, were arrested in January as part of a criminal investigation into abuse and neglect and have been released under investigation. 
      • Ofsted concluded after the inspection in February: “The proprietor has not ensured that safeguarding arrangements are effective. 
      • For the full story, select here.