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Child pornography ring exposed by German officials
Law enforcement officials in Germany said Friday that an international police investigation had uncovered an immense child pornography ring involving some 26,500 suspects who swapped illegal images on the Internet in 166 countries.
About 1,500 police officers searched more than 500 homes throughout Germany this week, seizing computers, videotapes, compact discs and diskettes, the officials said. The Germans also supplied other countries with information on child pornography suspects, including about 800 people in the U.S., officials said.
“One of the biggest internationally active networks has been smashed,” said Curt Becker, the justice minister for the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The raids in Germany uncovered 38 Internet groups. Police said they confiscated 745 computers, 5,800 videotapes, 35,500 CD-ROM’s and 8,300 diskettes. Among those suspected of possessing or exchanging child pornography are police officials and “many teachers and educators,” said Jurgen Konrad, the attorney general of Saxony-Anhalt.
