The Guardia Civil say they have detained 102 alleged paedophiles accused of watching and sharing images of child sex abuse, under Operation Pilumnus, with five arrests in Alicante Province, which included a swimming coach. A man was also detained in Los Alcázares.
Agents swooped across the country after catching men downloading explicit content online, some involving infants as young as a few months old. Over 450 thousand photos and videos were uncovered, according to investigator Pedro Corrales, who took part in the operation.
Their profiles vary from young students to unemployed people, retirees and professionals including a legal consultant. Some of the suspects are married with children.
“For one of them, we found videos filmed with a hidden camera of the son of his current partner,” said Corrales.
“Scenes of high sexual violence against under-age victims” appeared in some of the material uncovered, the Guardia added in a statement.
The victims’ ages ran from a few months to around 14 years old, Corrales said, adding that the Guardia had identified some of the Spanish children involved. Others were from Asia or Latin America, prompting the Guardia to contact police in other countries to try and identify them.
Corrales said the job was tough on agents, who had to comb through masses of content.
“It’s rewarding when you get a result like this one, but it’s a difficult job, day after day, very detailed. You have to have special training in these kinds of crimes, as well as psychological preparation,” he added.
