Hundreds of Paedophiles Netted in International Sting
Posted: July 5th, 2012 | Author: Diana Detaux | Filed under: CRIME!, Hard Pill to Swallow, Paedophile, That Human Condition | Tags: Adult Grooming, Child Pornographer, Child Pornography, Child Pornography Production, Child Protection Agency, Child Sex Predators, Child Sexual Abuse, Cyber Safety, Cyberstalking, ephebophilia, hebephilia, Online Security, paedophilia, Stalking | Comments Off
Hundreds of paedophiles prowling on the internet have been identified in an operation in 141 countries, Austrian Federal Police said. In Austria alone, operation “Carole” found 272 suspects, making it the biggest ever police sweep against child pornography in the small country.
The investigations, which lasted almost a year, began in Luxembourg when the operator of a root server based there reported two websites containing large quantities of child pornography to the authorities. Chief Inspector Harald Gremel, the operations coordinating officer, said Austrian Federal Police were alerted by Luxembourg authorities after they found child pornography was being watched worldwide from several Luxembourg-based home pages.
The website’s files, indicating a worldwide clientele, were seized by police and passed on to investigators in 141 countries, Austrian police said, without elaborating on the countries or the number of people involved.
The 272 Austrian suspects, all male and aged 17 to 70, came from all types of background and professions, including teachers and kindergarten staff. All of them were found in possession of paedophile images or videos. In two cases actual abuse of children could be proven, police said.
Searches at the suspects’ homes turned up vast amounts of material, which is currently being examined. Many of the suspects are thought to be from Vienna. Police declined to say whether investigations were continuing outside of Austria.
In March 2011, an Europol sweep identified 670 suspects and made 184 arrests in what was then the biggest case of its kind. In June of this year, law enforcement agents in the United States arrested 190 people in a cross-border – Operation Orion – investigation into child pornography.
Related:
Operation Orion Nets Nearly 200 Child Pornographers
ONLINE SECURITY! Remember Where Your Children Are ?
