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Vienna busts huge child porn
ring
BBC
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Austria has uncovered an international child pornography network
involving more than 2,360 suspects from 77 countries, the interior
minister said.
The suspects paid to view images that showed "the worst kind
of child sexual abuse", Guenther Platter said.
The videos were posted on an internet site run by an Austrian company.
No arrests have yet been made but Austrian authorities are sharing
their information with investigators in other countries including
the US and Germany.
Austrian federal police said the case was "a strike against
child pornography unprecedented in Austrian criminal history".
Twenty-three suspects were being questioned, Austrian officials said,
and arrest warrants might soon be issued. The youngest person implicated
was 17 and the oldest was 69.
Mr Platter said the FBI was investigating some 600 suspects in
the US. German authorities were following leads on at least 400
people, France was looking into about 100 more and Britain was investigating
people.
'Screams heard'
The investigation began in July after an Austrian internet provider
noticed that eight unauthorised video files had been downloaded
on to its server from London.
Within 24 hours, investigators said they recorded more than 8,000
hits on the video and DVD material from more than 2,360 computer
addresses in 77 countries.
Harald Gremel, an Austrian police expert on internet crime who
led the investigation, said the videos were made in eastern Europe
and featured children of up to 14 years of age.
"Girls could be seen being raped, and you could also hear
screams" Mr Gremel said, adding that users paid $89 (68 euros,
£45) to access the material.
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