During the raids that began at approx. 6 am, local time, the Slovene Police seized about 1000 computers, smartphones, hard drives, and USB flash drives. No-one has been detained so far and no victims that would be under direct physical threat, were discovered.
The goal of the investigation is to discover and identify all of the victims as the identity of some remains unknown. The police are therefore asking the people to immediately report any relevant information on the abuses they might have. The perpetrators are said to have met the victims in online chatrooms and social networks and allegedly introduced themselves as their peers. Some of the victims are believed to have met with their perpetrators in real life as well.
The investigation has been going on since 2015, after one of the police units received information about the underage girl that was chatting online with an unidentified individual with whom she was supposed to go on a date. This triggered a response from the law enforcement and detailed analysis of all information provided. The efforts proved to be relevant enough to conduct a raid on the suspect's home. This further led to the new traces and discoveries. The total number of suspects, since the start of the investigation in 2015, is 30. 25 children have already been identified.
Most of the victims are said to be between 10 and 17 years of age and are believed to be predominantly girls.
If found guilty, the suspects could receive a prison sentence of up to 8 years in jail.
Comment: Internet has become a 'pedophile playground': Sexual predators targeting increasing number of children online