Fourteen people suspected of being part of a German child crime network arrested in Haut-Rhin

Fourteen people suspected of being members of a vast German child crime network were arrested on Sunday in Thann in Haut-Rhin, France Bleu Alsace reported on Wednesday April 24.

The suspects are 12 Germans and two Americans. They are between 36 and 74 years old and are suspected of having exchanged thousands of child pornography images. According to the Hanover public prosecutor’s office (Germany), the latter rented rooms in a hotel in Thann to meet and exchange thousands of images.

More than 10,000 elements discovered

At the same time, German police officers also searched the suspects’ offices. More than 10,000 elements have been discovered. Tablets, laptops and smartphones were also searched. The computer equipment will now be assessed in detail. The German police speak of long and tedious work, as the volume of data is considered large.

In police custody, the suspects from all over Germany, some of them, partially admitted the facts. They were then all released. The Hanover public prosecutor’s office says it is continuing the investigation to try to find the victims and possible other members of the child crime network. This vast investigation was launched last December. It mobilized more than 200 German police officers and around a hundred French gendarmes.