A six-month operation overseen by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and involving 45 police forces across the UK has led to the arrest of 660 suspected paedophiles.
Those arrested include doctors, teachers, scout leaders, care workers, and former police officers. Thirty-nine of those detained were registered sex offenders.
Suspicions range from possessing indecent images of children to serious sexual assault.
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 victimised not only when they are abused and an image is taken.
"They are re-victimised every time that image is viewed by someone.
"Some of the people who start by accessing indecent images online go on to abuse children directly. So the operation is not only about catching people who have already offended – it is about influencing potential offenders before they cross that line
"We want those offenders to know that the internet is not a safe anonymous space for accessing indecent images, that they leave a digital footprint, and that law enforcement will find it".
Claire Lilley, head of online safety at the NSPCC: "This is an important two-pronged operation which has rescued children from abuse and also identified many previously unknown sex offenders.
"Direct action like this sends a strong message to those who subject children to harrowing sexual assaults that they can and will be traced and prosecuted.
"But law enforcement agencies alone cannot deal with the vast problem of illegal images which continue to flood the market.
"So while this operation must be rightly applauded we should view it as yet another warning sign that far more needs to be done if we are to stem the sordid trade in these images, which are often used by those who go on to abuse children."