The security authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia are dealing with more and more cases of child abuse. The majority of the clues come from the US.
In the fight against child abuse have the North Rhine-Westphalian security authorities more and more cases to edit. In 2021 there were 4046 cases against known suspects given, in 2022 there were 8713, said the head of the central and contact point for cybercrime (Zac) at the Cologne public prosecutor’s office in Düsseldorf “Rheinische Post”. “So the cases have more than doubled.”
Even more dramatic is the increase in the proceedings against unknown suspects. “We had 346 procedures in 2021; in 2022 we had 2156 procedures – that’s more than sixfold. That is already clear and we have an obligation to continue the investigation with exactly this intensity,” said Hartmann.
Child abuse: most references to the perpetrators from the USA
The expert explains the enormous increase in procedures with an improved organization of the law enforcement authorities – such as the establishment of a task force at Zac NRW, which means that many more cases from the so-called dark field could be cleared up. “The discovery mechanisms are with us as well as with the police and local prosecutors much more effective become,” said Hartmann.
also read: Child abuse: Essen police searched 22 apartments
Despite the personnel and technical expansion, the German prosecution authorities receive the with decency most references to the perpetrators from the USA. “That’s because most Internet services are owned by US companies,” Hartmann said. “Perpetrators upload corresponding images from Microsoft, Google or Amazon to a cloud. In the USA, these clouds are regularly filtered for child pornographic images.” As soon as there are any suspicious cases, the companies report these to the US authorities.
Zac NRW has established itself as Germany’s largest cybercrime unit in the judiciary. She is responsible for the conduct of proceedings in prominent investigations in the field of cybercrime. (mid/AFP)
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