German officials have called for tougher sentences for consumers of child pornography after police cracked a huge global child porn network involving some 26,500 Internet users in 166 countries.
"The latest investigation successes have shown once again what sort of disgusting acts people are capable of," Mr Fritz Rudolf Koerper, junior interior minister, told Welt am Sonntagnewspaper.
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"We must deal with them severely. I propose a coordinated increase of sentences Europe-wide," he said, adding he wanted more international cooperation on fighting the ways such material was spread on the Internet.
Police said yesterday they had cracked a porn ring using computer files seized last year in Germany, including a huge distribution list, via which suspected paedophiles swapped pornographic images of children as young as four months.
In a sweep codenamed Operation Marcy and involving some 1,500 police, 502 premises were raided across Germany this week. Officers seized 745 computers, at least 35,500 CDs, 8,300 diskettes and 5,800 videos.
Suspects were identified as far afield as the United States, Australia and Switzerland. In Germany, 530 suspects are being investigated for possession or distribution of child porn.
Possession of such material in Germany can lead to a jail term of up to one year while production and distribution can carry a sentence of up to 10 years.
Mr Konrad Freiberg, chairman of the German police union, called for tougher sentences for possession of child porn.
"It's not just producers, but also consumers who are criminals," he said in a statement. "The current threat of a fine or jail of up to a year for the possession of such photos, films and data is not enough of a deterrent. That is why a minimum sentence should be introduced."
Mr Freiberg also warned against believing the battle was won against child porn just because of the latest success.
"More investment in personnel and technology is needed to put a stop to this for good," he said, calling for more counselling for officers dealing with such material. "What my colleagues in this field have to look at and deal with is unbelievable."