With a nationwide raid in 27 cities, the police in North Rhine-Westphalia investigated the spread of child pornography. The measures were directed against 34 men and one woman who are suspected of having exchanged photo and video files via a messenger service. This was announced on Wednesday by Markus Hartmann, head of the central cybercrime unit at the public prosecutor’s office in Cologne. He did not name the messenger service.
So that the suspects do not warn each other via the messenger service, the search was carried out on them at the same time. In almost all cases, the police made representations at the residential address and only in one case at a business address. Overall, the police confiscated more than 500 data carriers. A spokesman said there were no arrests.
The material contains “sometimes extreme depictions of abuse“said Christoph Hebbecker, spokesman for the Cologne public prosecutor’s office, the WDR. The suspects face charges or a penalty order for possession or possession and distribution of child pornography. “If there were no buyers for such content, it might not be produced“, says Hebbecker.
Investigations after information from the USA
The police said the information about the suspects came from the US organization NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children). Many US internet companies scan their traffic for child pornography and report hits to the NCMEC. If German users are among them, they will be forwarded to the Federal Criminal Police Office.
35 suspects in 27 cities
“The fact that images of abuse are also shared via ordinary messenger services shows the extent of the problem of child pornography on the Internet“, according to Hartmann. “The fight against child pornography is a long-distance race that we will not back down on“said Ingo Wünsch, Director of the State Criminal Police Office NRW.
Police authorities in Bochum, Bonn, Borken, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herford, Hochsauerlandkreis, Kleve, Cologne, Lippe, Lüdenscheid, Mönchengladbach, Oberbergischer Kreis, Oberhausen, Rhein-Erft-Kreis, Rhein-Kreis Neuss, Rhein-Sieg-Kreis, are involved. Warendorf, Wesel and Wuppertal.
We will report on this topic on WDR on March 8th, 2023 in various programs on television and radio.