A MAN caught with thousands of indecent images of children has sparked a global hunt for members of a paedophile ring.
Daniel Brown, of west Hull, was caught after detectives received a tip-off he was distributing sickening images to other paedophiles.
Now, Humberside Police are leading the search for the remainder of the ring operating in the US, Australia, Russia, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Poland and France.
Detective Constable Adrian Adamson said it is one of the biggest paedophile investigations the force has undertaken.
He said: "We are investigating the other people involved in this.
"There are hundreds of individuals worldwide. We have been liaising with police forces in eight different countries and Interpol and the FBI.
"We will be handing our evidence to them and they will ultimately be dealt with for these crimes in their own countries.
"This is one of the biggest cases of this kind we have ever dealt with and it all came from a tip-off."
Detectives raided Brown's home in Hereford Street, where they seized his computers, which contained thousands of images of children, including babies.
Brown, who worked at family restaurant chain Frankie and Benny's, had been trading images to at least 13 other men and an examination of his computer revealed he had the contact details of hundreds more paedophiles from around the world.
DC Adamson said: "We have taken steps to safeguard the children involved and more youngsters have come to our attention as a result of the investigation."
Brown, 33, pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court to possessing 3,217 indecent images of children and 149 indecent videos of children – many of the videos were at the worst level of seriousness – and possessing an extreme image involving an animal.
He admitted sending 261 indecent images and videos to 13 men between November 2011 and February last year. Detectives found records of email conversations with other sex offenders in which Brown had asked them to send him indecent pictures of babies and of their own children.
He emailed one man saying: "Nice pictures. Never be ashamed of who you are, I love lots of things, young girls, but never shun away from it."
Brown was arrested on February 12 last year, as a result of the tip-off.
His barrister, John Thackray, said: "His partner of nine years passed away and his auntie, who brought him up, died four weeks later unexpectedly.
"He has had problems in coming to terms with his offending.
"He accepts it was drink-related. It is no excuse, of course. He has always had a good work record and has lost his employment as a result of this.
"He has genuine remorse."
Recorder James Baird jailed Brown for two and a half years.
He told him: "I have to deal with you for serious offending and only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified.
"You pleaded guilty to downloading indecent images of children from the age of 12 months to 13 years.
"There are a large number of indecent images.
"More serious, as you know, is your conduct in distributing indecent images of children.
"There are images and video recordings of very young children at all levels of seriousness.
"You admitted this offending to the police but it is clear from what I have read that you were freely distributing and exchanging that material with a number of other people, 13 recipients in all.
"That conduct is not only a serious aggravating feature but also shows, in part, a large level of culpability.
"The emails all, in my view, indicate you were showing a degree of encouragement to others to exchange such material which I determine you clearly had an interest in."
Brown was also given a sexual offences prevention order, banned from working with children and placed on the sex offenders register for life.
A spokesman for Frankie and Benny's said: "Daniel Brown has been employed as a waiter in one of our restaurants in Yorkshire, not in Hull.
"We have a standard procedure whereby new employees are required to confirm in writing whether they have criminal records or any pending convictions.
"Mr Brown signed this document on November 21, 2012, confirming there were no matters to disclose.
A disciplinary investigation with Mr Brown is under way. The company was not aware of any criminal proceedings against Mr Brown."
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