MADRID – In an official Tweet, the Policia Nacional have announced the successful detention of 8 pedophiles. Moreover, they allegedly distributed and possessed child sexual exploitation material online via an app.
The arrests took place in #Almería , #Barcelona , #Córdoba , #Gerona , #Madrid , #Sevilla and #Toledo.
🚩 Detenidos 8 pedófilos que distribuían y poseían material de explotación sexual infantil en #Almería, #Barcelona, #Córdoba, #Gerona, #Madrid, #Sevilla y #Toledo
Intervenidos 13 #móviles, 2 tabletas, 3 discos duros, un USB, un portátil y un ordenador https://t.co/xxG5vWmBde
— Policía Nacional (@policia) November 29, 2021
Sports coach among those arrested
According to El Confidencial one of those arrested is a sports coach for children between the ages of 13-14.
The police had received information from Europol. This regarded various investigations by the National Centre for the Coordination of Child Exploitation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. And included the alleged commission of various crimes of prostitution and corruption of minors. As a result, an organised distribution of child sexual exploitation material through a social network in Spain was discovered. Furthermore, the company that owns that app reported unauthorised activity of the distribution of audio-visual material relating to child sexual exploitation.
Seized
On searching the homes of the individuals, the Policia Nacional seized 13 mobile phones (#móviles), two tablets, three hard drives, a USB, a laptop, and a computer.
Increased during lockdown
The expansion of the internet has made the distribution of child pornography one of the easiest and quickest ways to exchange these types of illicit material. In addition, during lockdown, it was estimated there was a significant rise in child pornography.
As confirmed by Europol, “Online child sexual exploitation is a constantly evolving phenomenon and is shaped by developments in technology. Furthermore, mobile connectivity, growing internet coverage in developing countries, and the development of pay-as-you-go streaming solutions, which provide a high degree of anonymity to the viewer, are furthering the trend in the commercial live-streaming of child sexual abuse”.
