From Monday October 5 to Thursday October 8, 2020, around sixty people were arrested and their homes searched. A huge crackdown, which ends an investigation started in January 2020. This is what you need to know about the case …
1. How were the pedophiles tracked down?
To combat this specific type of cybercrime, the French police have acquired specific software, used by the FBI. This made it possible to track downloads made on child pornography websites. The method: the tool penetrates these illegal platforms, then tracks the IP addresses of people who visit them and download images (in France, image ownership is punishable by law). In this case, the people targeted all had a high download volume.
The use of the software marks a breakthrough in the fight against cyberpédocriminality, because the image search, when it is carried out directly by agents, remains very difficult psychologically, explains Commissioner Éric Bérot, head of the Central Office. for the repression of violence against people, 20 Minutes. Note that, according to the investigators, the confinement has led to an increase in this type of download.
2. Who are they?
In this hack, as is often the case, the individuals are "Mr. Everybody". We observe that they are 99% of the men, and that only one case concerns a woman (a couple who consulted the images together). "No profession is spared. Regarding family situations, we meet single people, couples with or without children …", tells 20 Minutes the curator Éric Bérot.
These people are between 28 and 75 years old, work in various professions and are integrated into society. A dozen of those arrested were known to the courts and registered in the automated file of perpetrators of sexual offenses. One of the arrested men is an educator at two football clubs. At least four of them are also charged with rape of minors. Commissioner Éric Bérot emphasizes the seriousness of this precise fact:"Downloading child pornography files is not trivial. We have people who can then take action," he explains in Le Figaro.
3. And after the operation?
This strike should be just the start. Adrien Taquet (Secretary of State to the Minister of Solidarity and Health, in charge of Children and Families) told AFP that he wanted to strengthen the repression against these criminals, by giving resources to the gendarmerie and the police."
To date, more than 100,000 individuals have been spotted using the software used. "The idea was to kick the anthill to fight child pornography and show that there is constant vigilance and vigilance", explains Commissioner Bérot to the Parisian. And, since this summer, viewing and downloading child pornography images is punishable by five years' imprisonment, against two previously. The perpetrators are then automatically registered with the Fijais (automated judicial file of perpetrators of sexual and violent offenses).