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Jakarta Police dismantle child pornography network
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Stock illustration of child abuse victim (Shutterstock/File)
T
he Jakarta Police have dismantled a vast pedophile network, containing as many as 7,000 members, in a closed Facebook group named Official Candy’s Group, which produced and distributed child pornography.
The police had successfully infiltrated the network, said Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Mochamad Iriawan during a press conference on Tuesday.
“People had to submit links to videos of child pornography before they were accepted as members of the group,” Iriawan said.
“Once they were accepted, they would also have to keep uploading more footage of abuse that contained different victims, sometimes made by themselves, thus increasing the number of abused children,” he added.
People who uploaded the videos would earn Rp 15,000 (US$1.12) for every click on their videos, he said.
Four people who were the administrators of the group have been arrested. They have been identified as Wawan, 25, and Dede Sobur, 27, and two suspects aged 16 and 17. Iriawan claimed the 16-year-old was intimidated into helping manage the group by Wawan.
Police also suspect Wawan and Dicky are guilty of abusing eight children, one of whom is a 3-year-old from East Jakarta.
The Jakarta Police confiscated several cell phones used by the suspects to manage the group, which has now been blocked by Facebook.
(Read also: Children's book pulled following complaints of alleged pornographic content)
The police will cooperate with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to conduct further investigations into the members of the group, who allegedly have connections with a foreign network in countries such as the US, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Bolivia. (dea/dan)
