In einer internationalen Operation gegen sexuellen Missbrauch von Kindern wurden 95 Verdächtige verhaftet

In an international operation targeting the distribution of child sexual abuse material online, police have arrested 95 suspects over a period spanning March to September 2026. The operation, involving 17 countries across Latin America and Europe including Brazil, Argentina, Spain, and Italy, was announced by Interpol on Thursday. Among those arrested were some parents of victims, as well as women and men. The operation included 127 search warrants executed by investigators, according to a report by the German news agency DPA. Interpol’s executive director for investigative support, Stephen Fry, emphasized that each file contains a child who has been abused and who becomes a victim again whenever their images are shared once more. In Colombia, authorities rescued a five-year-old child and arrested one of their parents, who allegedly filmed the child's sexual abuse and sold the footage online. With the help of Interpol’s database, investigators linked multiple files to the same child. Some of these files were taken when the child was just one year old. In Ecuador, investigators examining a suspect from a messaging app found over 4,000 files containing child sexual abuse material totaling around 15 gigabytes. In Panama, an administrator of a group that distributed such material was arrested. According to Interpol data, the group had more than 700 users. In Argentina, police arrested a suspect believed to have contacted over 260 girls from various countries. He is accused of sexually exploiting minors and reportedly demanded increasingly explicit video recordings and photographs from his victims, threatening them if they resisted. Interpol noted that perpetrators are increasingly using digital platforms for grooming children, coordinating abuse, connecting offenders, and receiving payments for illegal content. Repeated sharing of images and videos exposes victims to the consequences of abuse once again. In several groups in Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and Spain, adolescents were found to be searching for and sharing such material. Interpol expects analysis of seized material to help identify additional perpetrators and at-risk children, enabling their protection. Stephen Fry, Interpol’s executive director for investigative support, warned of the growing role of digital platforms in profiting from child sexual abuse and called for stronger international cooperation between law enforcement and the private sector. “Behind every file stands a child who has been abused and who becomes a victim again every time that image is shared again. Wherever the perpetrators move, we need to be faster,” he said. The international initiative Confluencia was funded by the European Union’s EL program.