Kim Hjelmgaard

USA TODAY

LONDON — Over 600 suspected pedophiles have been arrested in Britain as part of a six-month investigation, the National Crime Agency said Wednesday.

The NCA said that doctors, teachers, scout leaders, care workers and former police officers are among those detained. The operation targeted people viewing what it called "indecent" images of children online.

The NCA said that some of those arrested had "unsupervised access to children in the course of their work." The NCA said 39 people were on a list of registered sex offenders.

Commenting on the operation, NCA Deputy Director General Phil Gormley said: "Our aim was to protect children who were victims of, or might be at risk of, sexual exploitation. A child is victimized not only when they are abused and an image is taken. They are re-victimized every time that image is viewed by someone."

Several child abuse scandals have rocked Britain in recent years, including sex crimes committed by the late BBC entertainer Jimmy Savile.