The director of Europol, Rob Wainwright, told a press conference that so far 670 suspects have been identified and that he expects the number of detainees to increase (there are already 184) as police work progresses in each of the countries involved.
In addition, 230 minors were placed under the protection of the authorities, which is "the largest number of victims so far protected in the framework of this type of investigation," according to a statement.
The European Police Agency considers that the number of children protected for having been victims of abuse is expected to "increase in the coming weeks".
"The protection of so many children (...) confirms our agency's goal of making Europe a safer place for citizens," Wainwright said.
Called Operation Rescue, this operation was the result of three years of investigations, which were coordinated by Europol during the last year and a half.
The countries where the network was active are Spain, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Greece, Iceland, Italy, holland, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Great Britain and the United States, according to Europol.
In Spain, seven people were arrested, and nine others were charged with belonging to a paedophile community.
The suspects were members of an internet forum (Boylover.net) that promoted sexual relations between adults and minors and operated from a computer server in the Netherlands.
According to Dutch media, the case came to light after the arrest of a suspect, a 37-year-old Dutch citizen, in late 2009, who controlled the entire paedophile network and kept in touch and exchanged material and data.
The detained Dutchman, Amir I., is on trial in the city of Haarlem (Netherlands), and the Public Prosecutor's Office asked for a sentence of 3.5 years in prison and psychiatric treatment, according to the Dutch press.
The defendant allegedly abused several minors in Brazil, with whom he exchanged sex for computer games, the Dutch agency said.
Source: Infobae
