Child pornography. 24 people investigated by the Postal Police, 2 arrested

The State Police continues without respite the activity to combat on-line child pornography, especially in this period of health emergency, characterized by an exponential increase in cybercrime. Investigators of the Postal Police of Florence, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Florence, arrested a 45-year-old man from the province of Pistoia, a recidivist, and a 47-year-old man from the province of Florence, for detaining large quantities of pornographic material made using minors of the 18 years.

The arrests were carried out as part of the “Big Surprise” maxio-operation to combat the dissemination of child pornography material on the Internet, coordinated by the National Center for the Fight against Online Child Pornography.

The judicial police activity stems from a report from the Canadian police, via Europol, regarding the dissemination on the Internet of files with child pornography content through KIK chats (instant messaging application).

The complex and long development, with consequent analysis, of the hundreds of information provided, made it possible to identify and trace twenty-four users, all involved in the dissemination of child pornography material. The identification was made possible by combining traditional investigations with specific computer investigative techniques of OSINT (intelligence on open sources) and cross-platform (contextual searches on multiple platforms) which allowed the Judicial Authority to issue 24 search orders against holders of the social profiles identified. Measures carried out in three "tranches" starting from October 2019 until April 2021.

The search activities and arrests involved 17 provinces and 9 regions, of which 16 in Tuscany, with the discovery in the course of the operations, in all cases, of elements of crime against the recipients of the provision.

The careful inspection of the computer supports in the availability of the subjects, has aggravated the position of two of these, a forty-seven year old from the province of Florence and a forty-five year old from the province of Pistoia allowing the discovery of a large amount of images and videos of a child pornography nature as well as active participation in social groups of the same nature. The evidence of these elements led to the arrest of the two in the act of crime.

Child pornography. 24 people investigated by the Postal Police, 2 arrested