( CNN ) -- A Scottish court has convicted eight men of child sexual abuse in what police say is the largest pedophile ring ever dismantled in Scotland . The eight men were all convicted Thursday of offenses related to indecent photographs of children . Three were also convicted of the sexual abuse of young children , and five were convicted of conspiring to take part in the sexual abuse of a child , identified only as Child F. `` Tens of thousands of photographic and video images of children being sexually abused were recovered , '' said Morag McLaughlin , the prosecutor for the Lothian and Borders region . `` All of those involved in the investigation and prosecution of the case have been profoundly affected by it . '' Two of the men , Neil Strachan and James Rennie , face a maximum of life in prison when they are sentenced July 29 , said a spokesman for the High Court in Edinburgh , where the men were convicted . The others , who will be sentenced June 11 , face a variety of lesser sentences . The police investigation revealed a network of people who shared a common interest in child sexual abuse , said Detective Superintendent Allan Jones , of Lothian and Borders Police . Information from the probe yielded information on 70 others around Britain and led to `` numerous arrests , '' he said . `` They made initial contact via the Internet and used it to share vile imagery and discuss the abuse of children , '' Jones said . Watch a report on the convicted men » . Strachan was the only one of the eight who was previously known to police , he said . `` All of them led classic double lives . Some of them were respected members of their professions and communities , '' Jones said . The family of Child F released a statement after the conviction that detailed how Rennie betrayed the family 's trust to abuse their son . Rennie was `` the closest of family friends '' for more than 15 years and even offered support and friendship during difficult times , they said . `` To subsequently learn that he abused our son , and invited others to do the same , has been devastating , '' the family said . `` As a family we have had to learn to live and cope with the effects these horrific events have had . '' The mother of another child involved in the case , identified only as Child JL , described her `` anguish '' about what Strachan had done to her son . `` I will never be able to forgive him for the sick acts that he committed against my son , '' said the mother , whose name was not released . `` I feel that no matter what punishment given to Mr. Strachan , it will never be able to compensate for the hurt , devastation and great deal of stress brought to me and my family . Mr. Strachan used and abused our trust in order to satisfy his and others ' sick needs . '' Police and prosecutors gathered important evidence from overseas and used new scientific expertise in order to prosecute the case , the court said . Lothian and Borders Police said it received `` invaluable '' expertise from the FBI in the United States and other British and Scottish agencies -- including the Serious Organized Crime Agency and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center . Microsoft helped police trace e-mail addresses and identities , Jones said . Police also had help from two U.S. academics , Professors Hany Farid of Dartmouth University and Miroslav Goljan of the State University of New York at Binghamton , who are experts in steganalysis , a forensic technique that links an image to the camera on which it has been taken , Jones said . Jones praised the forensic scientists who had to examine the imagery in the case . `` They do not have the option to look away and have to live with the memory of what they have seen , '' he said . `` It is a testament to their expertise that they did this day in , day out . They did it for the good of children and provided us with a first-class service . ''
Lothian court convicts Two men of child sexual abuse . Police say it is the largest pedophile ring ever dismantled in the United States . eight of the men , James Rennie and James Rennie , face life in prison .