Jakarta police bust child porn ring operating on Twitter and Telegram

Jakarta Police special crimes unit head Senior Commissioner Adi Deriyan said the suspects offered pornographic videos of male children through social media platforms such as Twitter and Telegram.
PHOTO: REUTERS

JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The Jakarta Police have arrested three operators of online accounts allegedly used to sell child porn on Twitter and Telegram.

The perpetrators, identified only as Y, 19, H, 30 and I, 30, were caught in their hometowns of Purwerejo in Central Java and Garut and Bogor, West Java.

"We found that the three suspects have been selling child porn through Twitter," Jakarta Police spokesman Senior Commissioner Argo Yuwono said at the Jakarta Police headquarters on Sunday (Sept 17).

Jakarta Police special crimes unit head Senior Commissioner Adi Deriyan said the suspects offered pornographic videos of male children through social media platforms such as Twitter and Telegram, while the material was sent through Telegram.

"The three suspects often used their Twitter accounts to market the items to (paedophiles), and only charged Rp 50,000 to Rp100,000 per package through bank transfer or cell phone credit transfer," Adi said.

Each package contained 30 to 50 images and videos. After making payment, buyers could get photos and videos through Telegram.

Adi explained that the Twitter accounts owned by the suspects were followed by more than 1,000 people.

"The three suspects are also connected with paedophile rings from 49 countries and they are in contact with some groups on WhatsApp and Telegram that distribute child porn," he explained.

The police said they confiscated 750,000 photos and videos of child porn from the suspects.

The suspects have been charged under the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law, the 2008 Pornography Law and the Child Protection Law.

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