Berlin - German cyber crime authorities
have uncovered a massive online network of at least 30,000
people who share child pornography and exchange advice on how to
sedate and abuse minors, law enforcement authorities said on
Monday.
Peter Biesenbach, justice minister in the western state of
North Rhine-Westphalia, said investigators were stunned by the
scale of the network and that a special task-force has been set
up to find the suspects and bring them to justice.
"People log on to a chat, not on the dark web, but on
messenger services on the normal web," said Biesenbach. "They
get instructions from other users on what sedatives one should
give children in order to abuse them.
"A discussion ensues on which children can be abused," he
added.
Some users admit that they had long wanted to be part of
such networks but had never dared to do so. They get
encouragement from more experience users.
Biesenbach said the task-force would have to act quickly
before the chats were deleted, which would make it almost
impossible to identify the suspects.
"I felt sick when I heard it but it has also made us more
determined to pursue this inquiry," he said. "I fear it is going
to be more than 30,000 suspects."