T

he Jakarta Police have arrested the three reported owners of online accounts allegedly used to sell child pornography on Twitter and Telegram.

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

“The three suspects have been selling child porn through Twitter and are well connected to international pedophile rings,” Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said at the Jakarta Police headquarters on Sunday.

Jakarta Police special crimes unit head Sr. Comr. Adi Deriyan said the suspects offered pornographic videos of male children through Twitter, while the material was sent through messaging app Telegram.

“The three suspects often used their Twitter accounts to market the items and charged Rp 50,000 to Rp 100,000 per package through bank transfer or cell phone credit transfers,” Adi said.

Each package contained 30 to 50 images and videos. After making payment, buyers would receive the photos and videos through Telegram.

The police started the investigation on Sept. 3 after receiving reports that Twitter account @VGKSale had been offering child porn images.

Police arrested on Tuesday Y, the alleged administrator of the @VGKSale Twitter account in Purwerejo. From the arrest, the police were led to the alleged administrator of similar accounts @febrifebri745, reportedly owned by H, and @freeVGK69, reportedly owned by I, who were both arrested on Thursday in Garut and Bogor.

The Twitter accounts reportedly owned by the suspects were followed by more than 1,000 accounts.

The three suspects are also said to be connected to pedophile rings in 49 countries and are reportedly in contact with groups on WhatsApp and Telegram that distribute child porn.

The police said they confiscated 750,000 photos and videos containing 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.

Those arrested are accused of being the distributors of the pornographic material.

The Jakarta Police estimates approximately 200 more people are involved in the large network of pedophiles.

Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) chairman Susanto said the government must adapt to new trends of child exploitation.

“The KPAI will cooperate with stakeholders to identify victims from Indonesia and rehabilitate them. We will also invite Twitter Indonesia to discuss its policy on the privacy of children,” he said.

Earlier this year, the Jakarta Police uncovered a closed Facebook group with some 7,000 members that had reportedly shared child porn since last year. The group, called Official Candy’s Group, required those who wanted to join to upload links to videos containing child porn.

People who uploaded material would have Rp 15,000 transferred to their PayPal accounts for each click on their video links. The page, which has been blocked by Facebook, had 500 videos and 100 pictures containing child porn. Police have arrested four administrators of the Facebook page.

The Women’s Empowerment and Children Protection Ministry’s secretary, Wahyu Hartomo, said this phenomenon was just the tip of the iceberg.

“According to a 2013 survey, 3.9 percent of girls were sexually abused and 8 percent of boys were abused, amounting to between 600,000 to 900,000 children,” he said.

In Jakarta alone, more than 2,000 cases occur every year, most of which are classified as sexual abuse. (dis)