These 95 men are adults aged between 18 and 74, and a minor aged 16. Among them, 36 were already known for sexual offenses against minors or for viewing child pornography sites… And 7 of them were even already registered in the file of perpetrators of sexual or violent offenses.
A huge network child pornography international has just been dismantled by the French gendarmes, according to information from BFMTV. This network took shape in several discussion groups on the encrypted messaging application “Signal”.
In these groups, 16,000 users from 130 different countries exchanged child pornography content. The gendarmes from the Versailles research section identified and arrested 95 French users. Among them, some shared content in discussion groups while others were administrators.
The other users of this immense child pornography network come from abroad, “many in Central and South America”, specifies a source close to the investigation at BFMTV. The gendarmes are currently transmitting the evidence and information they have on the 16,320 foreign users to Interpol.
A deputy mayor, a sports instructor
This case has its origins in a banal French investigation carried out by the Versailles research section in 2023. This investigation targeted a man, around thirty, living in Hauts-de-Seine. He is accused of habitually viewing child pornography images.
In November 2023, the gendarmes searched his place of residence and discovered, on his “digital media”, that he was a member of several discussion groups on the “Signal” encrypted messaging service. The names of these discussion groups include “an unequivocal code formula”, specifies a source close to the investigation.
The gendarmes then discovered that these channels were “disseminators” of child pornography content. Concretely, users “introduce images into the system”. The investigations will have to determine in particular whether these users produced content themselves, and therefore whether they inflicted harm on children.
After an investigation lasting a little over a year, carried out by the Versailles research section under the direction of the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office, 95 French users were identified, 94 adults and one minor. Adults are between 18 and 74 years old. The minor is 16 years old.
Among these 95 men, 36 are already known for sexual offenses against minors or for viewing child pornography sites. Seven of them are registered in the File of perpetrators of sexual or violent offenses (Fijais).
The profiles of these French users are very diverse. There is notably a deputy mayor, a head of a youth information association and a sports instructor. They didn’t know each other, but they are all in the same groups.
Hundreds of thousands of contents
The arrests of these men began on December 9, and ended this Thursday, December 19. They were carried out in several corners of France, mainly in Île-de-France, New Aquitaine, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the Grand Est.
During the search of these men’s homes, the gendarmes seized several digital media. In total, 330 digital media were seized, including 152 mobile phones and 122 computers during operations coordinated by the National Cyber Unit (UNC) of the gendarmerie with 570 gendarmerie investigators including 140 specialized in cyber.
An astronomical quantity of child pornography content was discovered on these different media: more than 156,000 videos and 375,000 child pornography photos. All for 217 terabytes of data.
The sprawling investigations continue. The objective is to identify potential French children in these child pornography videos, and to try to determine whether, among the French authors arrested, some actively participated in the production of this child pornography content, and therefore in the abuse of children.
The discussion groups on the “Signal” encrypted messaging service have since been closed, a source close to the investigation reports to BFMTV.
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