90 000 online accounts with child abuse discovered in international police operation
An international operation targeting child abuse online has resulted in the arrest of 46 suspects in New Zealand and the identification of more than 100 suspects across the European Union. A total of 90 000 online accounts have been identified internationally.
The investigation was initiated already 2019, following a report from an online service provider, which indicated that a large number of offenders used the platform to exchange particularly disturbing child abuse images, including imagery depicting sadistic acts of sexual abuse of infants and children, Europol says.
The review discovered 32 GB of files, the equivalent memory necessary to stream approximately 90 minutes of video.
“To date, the international investigation has led to the opening of 836 cases internationally, the arrests of 46 individuals across New Zealand, the identification of more than 100 suspects across the EU and the safeguarding of 146 children across the globe.”
Europol says the operational activities led to the identification of users worldwide and this information was shared with the relevant national authorities for further action.
“In two of the cases in Austria and Hungary, the suspects were offenders abusing their own children, who were six and eight years old respectively. Both children were subsequently safeguarded.”
Europol says a large number of investigations are ongoing across the EU.
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