Criminals hide child abuse images behind legal porn sites

Viewers of adult material at risk of prosecution as commercial sites are increasingly being used to conceal paedophile content

People viewing or searching for adult pornography online face the risk of being arrested for accessing child abuse images because paedophiles are increasingly hiding criminal content on legal commercial websites, the Internet Watch Foundation has warned.

The past 18 months have seen a significant rise in the use of disguised websites that provide a secret route to child sexual abuse content, said Fred Langford, chief executive of the UK charity.