100 extra searches in child image inquiry to be conducted this year

Up to a hundred more searches are expected to be conducted this year in relation to a major investigation into child abuse imagery, garda bosses have said.

Three further phases are expected to be carried out in 2018 as part of Operation Ketch, which saw 31 searches of homes in 12 garda divisions in its first phase last February.

Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll, who is head of Special Crime Operations, said that “in excess of 100,000 images” were seized two months ago.