German police hunt 26,500 internet child porn suspects
Reuters is reporting a huge child pornography raid in Germany, based on “computer files” that purportedly identify 26,500 internet users worldwide. There are few details, but with a suspect list that big we’ll expect to see more than a few joe-jobs, mistaken identites and selective prosection.
The probe began with the seizure of computer files last year from a man in the German city of Magdeburg, which yielded data on thousands of Internet users suspected of swapping child pornography.[...]
Officials in Saxony-Anhalt said 502 premises were searched across Germany this week in an operation codenamed Marcy. Police seized 745 computers, at least 35,500 CDs, 8,300 diskettes and 5,800 videos.
As a result, the state justice ministry said 530 German citizens had been placed under suspicion of possessing or distributing child pornography.
“Worldwide, 166 countries with about 26,500 suspected Internet users are affected,” the ministry said in a statement. It said investigations were being coordinated by the federal police office and Interpol.
– Reuters, German Police Crack Huge World Child Porn Ring.
update: AAP has some details on the origin of the suspect list.
The raid at the 26-year-old suspect’s apartment in July 2002 gave investigators the email addresses of 1,000 possible porn trade partners.A court decision in the eastern city of Halle then required an international Internet service provider (ISP) to turn over evidence it had on the suspects including 38,000 email addresses and 26,500 pictures.
The interior minister of the eastern state of Brandenburg, Joerg Schoenbohm, said that an American ISP had worked closely with detectives.
– AAP, Global child porn ring busted.