Magdeburg –
The illegal distribution of pornographic content in Saxony-Anhalt increased significantly in 2020 compared to 2019. The police registered a total of 668 cases, as the Interior Ministry announced on Monday when the crime statistics were presented. In 2019 there were 454 cases, an increase of 47 percent.
The dissemination of pornographic content is punishable, for example, if it is made accessible to minors or is offered in publicly accessible places.
Almost all of these crimes have been committed online. “In this area of offenses, it is particularly noticeable that the Internet is a particularly important means of crime,” said Mike Schnorrer, officer in charge of the fight against crime at the Ministry of the Interior.
The main concern of the experts is that the spread of child pornography is increasing. In 430 of the 658 crimes committed on the Internet, content was shared that featured minors or involved minors. In the previous year there were 379 cases. It is “noticeable” that children and young people are increasingly sending these pictures and films to each other via mobile phone messengers, for example in class chats, according to Schnorrer. This is done “often just for amusement”.
It’s not just pornography by a long way – a lot of criminal activity shifted to the internet in corona year. The police counted 15,286 offenses on the net, about a fifth more than in the previous year. The lion’s share of digital crime falls into the area of forgery and fraud. In the year under review, 10,897 cases were recorded in this area, compared to 10,007 cases in 2019. In the area of goods and credit fraud alone, more than 1,000 offenses have been added.
Schnorrer explained this development primarily with the closure of the shops due to the pandemic. Criminals take advantage of the fact that more orders are being ordered online, for example by offering non-existent products or from non-existent shops.
The figures mentioned only reflect the criminal offenses recorded by the police. It can be assumed that the unreported numbers are significantly higher. (mz)
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