Seventeen men suspected of " disseminating or downloading
child pornography
videos and images
"
were arrested during a major raid in the Grand Est during which 500,000 files were identified, the gendarmerie announced on Thursday.
The operation was launched "
from March 29, 2023 at 06:00 a.m.
" across the entire region, said General Stéphane Ottavi, commander of the Grand Est Gendarmerie Region and the gendarmerie for the defense zone, in a press release. and East Security.
Various profiles
A suspect was targeted within the jurisdiction of each of the 17 judicial courts in the region.
The gendarmerie "
deployed 52 investigators including 17 highly qualified cyber investigators
", according to the same source.
"
The operational coordination of cyber investigations was carried out from the C3N antenna (center for the fight against digital crime) of the Metz research section
", with the support of the central C3N in Pontoise, added the general.
"
At this stage, 17 alleged perpetrators of dissemination or downloading of child pornography videos and images have been arrested
," he said, without specifying the places of arrest.
An 18th individual will also be arrested, it was said.
Read also“Child pornography”: justice rejects complaints against the Palais de Tokyo
500,000 child pornography files have been identified and digital media seized are being exploited, according to the same source.
The profiles of the suspects, one of whom appears in the automated judicial file of perpetrators of sexual or violent offenses (FIJAIS) for similar acts, "
are diverse in terms of age, composition of the family unit and social integration
added General Ottavi.
One of them admitted a sexual assault on a 15-year-old minor, who should be the subject of the opening of a judicial investigation, he further indicated.
The prosecutors of the 17 judicial courts of the region will decide on the legal consequences.
A similar operation, but on a smaller scale, had already taken place in September in Meurthe-et-Moselle, where four people had been arrested.
The gendarmerie, which has carried out "
a training effort and increased skills in cyber investigations
", "
has put itself in battle order to have specialists in cyber investigations (...) able to detect consumers and broadcasters of child pornography
", insisted General Ottavi, stressing that "
this type of operation is bound to be repeated
".
