In the fight against so-called network-connected child abuse, a task force based at the Central and Contact Point Cybercrime North Rhine-Westphalia (ZAC) of the Cologne Public Prosecutor's Office has already initiated 3800 investigations with 4150 suspects since it was founded 15 months ago.
The success once again made it clear that it was not about niche crime, said the North Rhine-Westphalian Justice Minister Peter Biesenbach (CDU).
The ZAC, which in North Rhine-Westphalia is also responsible for the criminal law processing of complex hacking scenarios, narcotics and weapons trafficking in the darknet as well as digital hate crime, has acted with its task force as the "vigorous heart of the prosecution of child sexual abuse and the spread of child pornography in the digital media ”. That is why it is now being raised from a pilot project to a permanent facility, said the minister.
The unit consists of eight prosecutors.
Together with the State Criminal Police Office, North Rhine-Westphalia has succeeded in building an effective investigation infrastructure to follow up on the thousands of clues that the authorities receive year after year.
The comprehensive digitization of social and social life is used by pedo criminals.
“Almost every act has a digital link.
Perpetrators communicate on the Internet about committed or planned abuse, they exchange depictions of abuse, and encourage each other, ”said Biesenbach.
"Entire online communities have emerged that only deal with child abuse and child pornographic material."