Child porn ring suspect nabbed
A Johannesburg man, who is allegedly part of an international ring, has been arrested for the alleged possession, distribution and manufacturing of child pornography.
|||Pretoria – A Johannesburg man has been arrested for the alleged possession, distribution and manufacturing of child pornography, the South African Police Service (SAPS) said on Thursday.
Police spokesman Vishnu Naidoo said members of the SAPS’ Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offence (FCS) unit arrested the 27-year-old suspect and immediately took him to the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday morning.
He was released on R2 000 bail and the case against him was postponed to April 16.
“The man joins a growing list of suspects arrested as part of the police’s Operation Cloud 9, an ongoing police operation formed specifically to investigate the online sexual exploitation of children”, Naidoo said.
The suspect’s alleged child porn activities surfaced after a suspect was arrested in Antwerp, Belgium, two years ago.
Naidoo said that suspect was found to be “part of a wider ring of 219 individuals worldwide, sharing child abuse images through the use of a software”.
“After receiving information from their Belgian colleagues, the FCS team investigation finally led them to an address in Meredale in Johannesburg, where the suspect was arrested this morning,” he said.
Naidoo said two laptops, three cellphones, and two external hard drives were confiscated as evidence.
Police hope images from the equipment will help identify victims.
African News Agency
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