The numbers from “Operation Weckruf” last summer speak for themselves: In a joint operation against child pornography, the police and judiciary executed more than 50 search warrants in one day in all Bavarian administrative districts. 270 police forces alone were deployed, as well as special sniffer dogs for data carriers. A good 2,500 computers, smartphones and other storage media were found. Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) spoke of a “sensitive blow” to the scene.
It was not the first mass search of this kind and will not be the last. The action was coordinated by the State Criminal Police Office and the Center for Combating Child Pornography and Sexual Abuse on the Internet, located at the Bamberg Public Prosecutor’s Office. Such “Action Days” will continue in 2024, State Police President Michael Schwald recently said in the state parliament’s Interior Committee. It’s about “sending a signal” that perpetrators should “expect the police at any time, even in the morning hours.” In addition, there are countless other raids on child pornography in Bavaria every year, most recently in Rosenheim, Bayreuth and Starnberg. This is also reflected in the police statistics, almost explosively.
Investigations into the distribution, acquisition, possession and production of child pornographic content, as stated in the criminal law, are increasing rapidly. According to the recently presented police crime statistics (PKS), there were more than 7,000 cases last year, an increase of 14.6 percent compared to the previous year. It is a repeated increase, in 2019 there were 1,735 cases, a quadrupling within five years. In the new PKS, violent crime by suspected refugees was the subject of public debate. The issue of child pornography was somewhat overlooked.
What’s behind it? First of all, it’s not necessarily that there are more cases, but that more are illuminated, moving from the dark into the bright field. On the one hand, more cases arise from the everyday use of smartphones, which enables the rapid, mass distribution of child pornographic content, for example in group chats. This often happens unconsciously, as is the case with the phenomenon of “schoolyard child pornography”. In investigative circles, the term means that young people share corresponding images, be it out of naivety, curiosity or to show off. This is where prevention comes into play, such as the “Don’t use your cell phone as a weapon” campaign from the Ministry of Justice and Culture. Investigations into child pornography are also becoming increasingly professional. In recent years, Justice Minister Georg Eisenreich (CSU) has set up special public prosecutor’s offices for various types of crime, including the center in Bamberg.
However, information from the NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) in the USA is decisive. Providers there are obliged to report relevant content to the non-profit, publicly funded organization. The NCMEC locates the cases, forwards them to the Federal Criminal Police Office, which in turn forwards them to the authorities in Bavaria. There are said to be 20 million NCMEC reports worldwide every year. This means that even milder cases of child pornography, for example without depicting abuse, are increasingly coming into focus. In security circles, the NCMEC is seen as the “driver” of the sharp increase in investigative work. At the SZ’s request, the State Criminal Police Office did not name a specific proportion of NCMEC reports in the total cases. In 2023, however, there will be an increase in these reports of around 80 percent compared to the previous year. “An expected increase in the number of NCMEC cases” can also be expected in the future.
“As frightening as the cases are, the fight against them is just as important.”
Such information goes down to the local level – and concerns criminal police and inspectors throughout Bavaria. “We as the police are slowly coming to our knees. It’s a mass crime that can hardly be controlled,” says Jürgen Köhnlein, state chairman of the German Police Union (DPolG). “Just think of gigabytes of data, the interrogations, the house searches – and that multiplied by thousands of cases. But as frightening as the cases are, the fight against them is just as important.” You have to pay particular attention to the colleagues and IT forensic experts who are busy evaluating files: “These are such demanding jobs that you can’t do them all your life.”
When introducing the PKS, Interior Minister Herrmann called for IP addresses to be secured for longer. There is the ongoing dispute over data retention – in the federal government the Greens and the FDP are “the brakes” to the detriment of the investigation. Alfred Grob (CSU) said in the Interior Committee that this blockade was “an outrage against harmed children around the world.” Another bill has now passed the federal cabinet. It’s about adjusting the minimum sentences. The current rules do not allow any flexibility in the case of crimes committed by inexperienced young people. Or lead to absurd convictions of people who have no pedo-criminal motive – such as parents who, horrified, secure incriminated images. This also contributes to the overload of the authorities nationwide. Police unionist Köhnlein sees the planned amendment as an important step: “It concerns cases where it is obvious that the mothers or teachers are not in the quagmire but want to clear it up.”