Operation "Lux contra tenebras": two arrests for online child sexual abuse material in Veneto
The Postal Police have arrested two men in the Venice and Vicenza areas as part of an investigation coordinated by the Venice Public Prosecutor's Office. A third suspect was reported whilst at liberty.
Two arrests and one suspect in operation against online child sexual abuse material
The Postal Police have arrested two men under the operation "Lux contra tenebras", coordinated by the Venice Public Prosecutor's Office against the distribution of child sexual abuse material online, as reported by ANSA Cronaca. The detainees are a 66-year-old resident in the Venice area and a 49-year-old in the Vicenza area, both caught in the act of committing a crime during residential searches. A third suspect, resident in the Brescia area, was reported whilst at liberty.
The investigation, conducted by specialists from the Cybersecurity Operations Centre for Veneto in collaboration with the National Centre for Combating Online Child Sexual Abuse Material (Cncpo), began with network monitoring and analysis of digital traces left by users during browsing and file-sharing activities. The technical investigations lasted several months before allowing the identification of the three subjects, all with no criminal records and residing in the provinces of Venice, Vicenza and Brescia, who were using platforms and software dedicated to the exchange of illicit material.
At the time of the search, the 66-year-old was engaged in downloading and sharing child sexual abuse material files through encrypted file-sharing networks. The 49-year-old had over 500 videos of a child sexual abuse nature on his devices. The duty public prosecutor at the Venice Public Prosecutor's Office ordered house arrest for both men pending validation hearings.
During the operations, computers, smartphones, digital storage devices and online accounts were seized. Forensic analysis will be conducted on the material found — hundreds of images and videos depicting minors, including very young children, victims of serious sexual abuse — to verify any links with other file-sharing networks operating in Italy and abroad, also for the purposes of identifying the victims, who in the majority of cases are located outside the national territory.
Source: ANSA Cronaca