London - Thirty-two men have committed suicide after their arrests in connection with Britain's biggest probe into child pornography.

Many were family men who stood to lose their jobs and marriages if convicted of paedophile offences and could not cope with the shame of arrest, according to the Daily Mail.

The newspaper said the men were among thousands of suspects held during Operation Ore, the British end of a United States investigation launched in 2002 into a pay-per-view child pornography website in Texas.

So far 7 200 Britons have been identified, with 3 729 of them arrested, it added. About 1 600 have been charged and 1 200 convicted.
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