Public urged to help track child sex offenders from everyday clues in abuse images

The public have been asked to help track down child sex offenders by identifying clues in the background of images of abuse.

Europol has launched a new website for cases where "every other investigative avenue" has been exhausted, with 20 pictures showing everyday items cropped from child sex abuse images.

A snowy scene from a window is captioned: "This is a scene taken from a window. Do you know where this might have been taken from? Are the buildings in the distance familiar to you? Do you know something about the design of the buildings that might help us?"

Other items include a plastic carrier bag, with an appeal for people who may know the name of the shop it is from, and items such as boilers and cleaning products.

'Do you know which shop this bag came from?' Credit: Europol

The unusual step is a last-ditch bid to find out more about images where so little is known investigators are unclear where in the world they originated.

Europol said two victims were recently identified after food packaging and waste containers in the background were recognised.

"We are convinced that more eyes will lead to more leads and will ultimately help to save these children," the agency said.

Rob Wainwright, executive director of Europol, said that victims of child abuse had been rescued through experts working together analysing abuse images.

Europol are hoping to trace the origin of the objects and will then pass the information to local police forces.

The website comes as the NSPCC revealed that every day there are 15 cases of child sex abuse linked to the internet in the UK - a 44% rise on last year.

Rape, sexual assault and grooming were among the offences logged which had a "cyber flag", meaning the crime had an online element, with the youngest victim aged three.