Twenty-three arrested for child prostitution

5 May 2006

BARCELONA — Twenty-three people were arrested across Spain on charges of peddling child pornography and corrupting minors.

Officials said the investigation began in November 2004 when Catalan regional police detected Internet messages in which minors were offered money to have sexual relations with adults.

Months later, a Barcelona man was arrested on charges of facilitating the prostitution of minors and possessing and distributing child pornography.

The operation uncovered e-mail accounts and an internet “chat” service with groups and communities dedicated to child pornography.

The Catalan police identified 12 of these communities and discovered more than 4,000 child-porn photographs which had been distributed by the users of these groups.

Authorities focused their investigation on 116 Spanish-based Internet connections from which the images were sent.

A court granted search warrants for dozens of homes in different parts of Spain.

Interpol was also notified of Internet connections in other countries that were used to access the Web communities.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news