Seven people were arrested by police from the Catania Cybersecurity Operations Center, in coordination with the CNCPO, as part of a large-scale operation against the online sexual exploitation of minors. They were accused of disseminating and possessing large quantities of child pornography.
As part of the investigation by the Catania District Attorney's Office, a total of thirty people are under investigation, and numerous computer devices containing tens of thousands of illegal files have been seized.
Over 100 postal police officers were deployed to conduct personal and computer searches. During the investigation, which included undercover operations, several groups were identified who were involved in exchanging child pornography videos, including those featuring child abuse.
The Catania Public Prosecutor's Office emphasizes that identifying the users who exchanged the images and videos required extensive in-depth investigation and cross-investigation, including the acquisition of data from abroad, as ordered by the Catania prosecutor's office. Five of those arrested live in the province of Catania, while the other two reside in the provinces of Frosinone and Potenza.
The investigation involves people residing in 17 different Italian cities and searches were carried out in Bari, Bolzano, Brescia, Catania, Caserta, Catanzaro, Enna, Frosinone, Lodi, Milan, Nuoro , Pescara, Potenza, Rimini, Turin, Venice and Verona.
The suspects, all men, are from various social backgrounds (students, unemployed, employees, professionals, and blue-collar workers), from all geographical areas of Italy, and are aged between 19 and 59.
The Catania Public Prosecutor's Office explains that the material found and seized from all suspects during the searches is being examined by investigators for further investigations aimed at confirming the circumstantial evidence, acquiring additional evidence against as yet unknown individuals, and identifying the young victims.
(Unioneonline)
