German authorities announced that they were tracking down 30,000 people suspected of a child pornography ring on the Internet where they publish their misdeeds, in a case the largest of its kind in Germany, which is currently preparing for more severe penalties for those involved in sexual crimes against children.
Commenting on the start of investigations with thousands of people involved in sexual crimes against children in Germany, “Peter Biesenbach,” the Minister of Justice in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, told a news conference: “I did not expect, even from afar, the extent of child abuse on the network.”
The state witnessed the outbreak of a sexual scandal last fall as investigators found “very disturbing” evidence of child abuse online, which made the regional justice minister assert that online sexual crimes against children are more prevalent than previously thought.
At the beginning of last October, the German authorities began a series of investigations into cases of child pornography ring abuse and displaying images of children who had been photographed during the years, when a 42-year-old man was arrested in the city of Bergisch Gladbach near Cologne.
According to the Minister of Justice, the Cyber-crime Police in North Rhine-Westphalia is in the process of conducting an investigation into the 30,000 people who are still unknown in the case of electronic sexual crimes against children in the city of Bergisch Gladbach.
More than 70 suspects of sexual crimes against children have already been identified across Germany and many of them are currently on trial. Last May, one of them, a 27-year-old soldier, was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment and placed in a mental hospital.
To date, at least 40 victims have been identified, and German investigators have been alerted by Canadian police who have discovered pornographic content related to sexual images of a number of children who were sent from that area, and investigations have resulted in the arrest of a 42-year-old man, And whose trial will begin next August.
Apparently, the investigators found large amounts of child pornography in his apartment, as well as they discovered various chat groups for thousands of participants, and they are now in the crosshairs of German justice. In this regard, Peter Biesenbach said: “We want to uncover the identity of the perpetrators who abuse children online. And those who support them. ”
Germany: police investigating massive internet paedophile network, over 30,000 suspects
Several cases of child sexual abuse were recorded in Germany in recent years
German authorities have become more stringent with crimes against children after recording several cases of sexual abuse of children in recent years that shocked public opinion in the country.
In early June, authorities arrested 11 people on suspicion of sexually abusing children and photographing their actions, after they found videos and photos in the cellar of a 27-year-old man in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia. In a previous scandal in Lugd, in the same region, several men were arrested on suspicion of abusing hundreds of times children in a camp.
In this regard, the deputy head of the police union, Michael Matz, said that the fact that more and more cases of abuse have been detected in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia have a lot to do with the reality of increased investigation capabilities in the region, and he warned that “it should be expected that in the coming months, Other networks of child molesters will be revealed. ”
It is noteworthy that the information circulated by the media based on police investigations early June regarding the disappearance of the young British girl Maddy McCann 13 years ago in Portugal, and the identification of a new suspect, a German currently held in the city of Kiel , prompted public debate to the need to tighten sanctions Against child sexual abuse offenders.
Many German political leaders have called to the extent of demanding the disclosure of the identity of anyone proven to be involved in distributing or receiving child pornography.
Source: Abwaab