Senior Tory adviser arrested over child image allegations
Tory veteran Patrick Rock, who advised the government on its policy towards internet porn and online filters, resigns over allegations involving child abuse images.
Mr Rock was arrested by detectives from the National Crime Agency (NCA) over a “potential offence relating to child abuse imagery”, a Downing Street spokeswoman said.
The 62-year-old was arrested at his home on 13 February and officers were given access to all IT systems and offices at Number 10, she added. Mr Rock resigned from his role as deputy head of Downing Street’s policy unit on 12 February.
In a statement, Downing Street said: “On the evening of February 12 Downing Street was first made aware of a potential offence relating to child abuse imagery.
“It was immediately referred to the National Crime Agency (CEOP). The prime minister was immediately informed and kept updated throughout. Patrick Rock was arrested at his home in the early hours of February 13, a few hours after Downing Street had reported the matter. Subsequently, we arranged for officers to come into Number 10 and have access to all IT systems and offices they considered relevant.”
The prime minister believes that child abuse imagery is abhorrent and that anyone involved with it should be properly dealt with under the law. Downing Street
Downing Street confirmed that Mr Rock was one of the advisers involved in the government’s policy on internet filters to protect against child abuse images online.
The statement added: “This is an on-going investigation so it would not be appropriate to comment further, but the prime minister believes that child abuse imagery is abhorrent and that anyone involved with it should be properly dealt with under the law.”
Leading search engine companies Google and Microsoft agreed in November to introduce changes that will prevent depraved images from being listed in results for more than 100,000 searches .Patrick Rock was one of the advisers and officials involved in dealing with the issue, but Downing Street insisted it was overseen by someone else.
According to the Daily Mail, which broke news of the arrest, Rock took particular responsibility for home affairs issues in the No 10 policy unit.
Mr Rock and Mr Cameron worked together in the Home Office under Michael Howard in the 1990s, the Daily Mail reported, and the Tory party veteran was brought back to Downing Street by the prime minister in 2011.