German courts are investigating some 30,000 people suspected of being involved in a large pedophilia case in the west of the country.
“We want to get the perpetrators of child abuse and those who support them out of the anonymity of the internet,” said Peter Biesenbach, the justice minister for the scandal-ridden North Rhine-Westphalia region.
So far, around 70 people have been suspected in the case, which began last fall in the town of Bergisch Gladbach. Several of them are currently on trial.
They are suspected of having abused and abused children for years and of having shared their wrongdoings filmed on online discussion groups.
Investigators have for their part identified so far at least 40 victims.
Alerted by Canadian police
The German investigators were alerted by Canadian police officers who discovered child pornography content from this region of western Germany.
A 42-year-old man, whose trial is scheduled to start in August, has already been arrested. Investigators found immense quantities of child pornography in his apartment.
In the process, they also uncovered the existence of various discussion groups with several thousand participants.
It is now these recipients of “cats” who find themselves in the crosshairs of German justice.
More uncompromising authorities
After several cases of pedophilia in recent years that have shocked the country, the authorities are now more intransigent.
“The authors who communicate in the forums consider child abuse to be” normal “and find a large number of like-minded people. The inhibition thresholds drop. And this is what characterizes this situation from a criminal point of view, ”warned Mr. Biesenbach.
“If we are to actively combat child abuse on the internet, we must also talk about the legal regulations on data storage. One cannot work without the other, ”he added.
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