Belgium holds four in Brussels child sex abuse sweep
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BRUSSELS – Belgian authorities said on Dec 12 they had detained four people and charged “numerous” others for possessing and distributing child sexual abuse images during a large-scale operation in Brussels involving hundreds of detectives.
More than 50 probes were opened after “international information sharing made it possible to determine that several IP addresses located in Brussels were involved in downloading” child sex abuse videos and photos, the prosecutor office said.
Some 28 cases “yielded positive results” and investigations were still underway.
Prosecutors said “numerous” individuals were charged and released on bail in addition to the four detained – but were unable to confirm exactly how many.
Over 300 detectives took part in multiple raids carried out in November and December.
These led to the seizing of hundreds of computers, hard drives, mobile phones and tablets holding at least 600 terabytes of data, prosecutors said.
The operation was led by the cybercrime section of the Brussels prosecutor’s office, which was set up only in June to deal with hacking and other online offences. AFP
