Cleveland Police investigating former radio DJ Mark Page used 'Hey Google' recordings to match voice
The team which investigated a former Radio 1 DJ for child sex offences has won an award for "pushing boundaries" after using Google voice recordings to link his distinctive voice to crimes committed overseas.
Former radio DJ Mark Page was jailed for child sex offences, which included arranging and paying to abuse children in the Philippines online.
Page was recorded asking his google home speaker questions such as "what is the age of consent in the Philippines" and "can you use a pseudonym at Western Union".
The 63-year-old had tried to claim he was a victim of hacking, but was convicted of four counts of arranging the commission of a child sex offence, between 2016 and 2019.
The former Middlesbrough FC match day announcer was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment - later increased to 18 years - in 2022.
The Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) attended Mark Page’s home after receiving intelligence that he was engaging in online conversations amounting to the sexual exploitation of 12-year-old children in the Philippines.
The team which investigated has now won an Internet Intelligence Award at the Home Office’s International Digital Investigation Awards on Tuesday 18 April.
A computer in Page’s office was logged into a Google account and the team managed to take over the account and access the archive.
Detective Sergeant Kevin Carter said: “This archive provided a comprehensive picture of Page’s life, spanning devices used over a decade which showed he was geographically, photographically and financially linked to key locations where he committed his crimes.
"The locations included specific times and dates he stayed at hotels in the Philippines and this information was crucial to the investigation.
“The data also included ‘Hey Google’ voice recordings made by Page which linked his distinctive radio voice to crimes he was committing with his victims overseas.
“Based on this data, we managed to identify three victims of exploitation in the Philippines who had been trafficked. We then worked with the National Crime Agency at the British Embassy in Manila who traced and safeguarded the victims.
“The defence position for Page scrutinised the data used in the investigation and it was presented to the College Digital Investigations Advisory Group and attracted the curiosity of TRACER (the National Crime Agency’s marquee unit for finding innovative ways to use technology) who had not seen this capability before.
"This contributed to the early national conversation around cloud capability in the UK.
“Page was rightly sentenced to a lengthy time in prison for the horrendous crimes he committed as a result of my teams’ investigation.”
Detective Superintendent Anne-Marie Salwey, head of major, serious and organised crime, said: “This has been a complex investigation with a successful result, the court Recorder stated the detective work has been of the highest calibre’ and I completely agree.
“The knowledge and expertise of Kev Carter, Jo Pain, Steve Rookes and Paul Ripley has resulted in an international award being brought home to Teesside and most importantly, it has prevented further children from being exploited by Page.
“Cleveland Police can now officially say that we employ internationally recognised digital investigation experts and I am so proud of them for achieving this award.”
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