The arrest of two members of a global network of child pornography distribution through WhatsApp alerted the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ): they suspect that there is more access to these digital clusters.
According to the Sexual Offenses Section of the judicial police, the people in these groups observe ‘raw pornography’ with atrocious content of children up to one year or less.
To stop the proliferation of such crimes in Costa Rica, the IJO intensified the exchange of information with Interpol and police officers from other countries. In addition, they want to have full time agents to investigate these cases.
The pornography that is spreading in chats where there are Costa Ricans is quite crude. We are very alarmed. There are cases of content featuring not only 15 year old teenagers, but sexual relations or rape with children who are not even a year old,”
said Alexander Arronis, head of the section.
The Costa Ricans who were part of the network in WhatsApp discovered by Interpol and the National Police of Spain watched content of minors between 0 and 8 years old. Almost 40 people from 10 different countries were arrested.
Technology advances and those engaged in these activities refreshed their knowledge. Now they seek to exploit the advantages of applications such as Facebook or WhatsApp.
Since April 3rd, the Functional Management Operational Unit (UODF) has initiated the investigations, along with the OIJ Sexual Offenses Section. However, this could be the tip of the iceberg of a larger reality.
The police operation carried out by Interpol and Spain, called Tantalio, found 96 groups of WhatsApp and 103 distributors of material in different countries.
Members had to follow strict rules: they used nomenclatures to exchange material and there were even expulsion rules.
It’s a more organized crime. Facebook found that there are pornographic sites where there are links to facilitate access to groups with no restriction. Without anyone authorizing, you enter freely and for those reasons we believe that Costa Ricans are in those chats. The material they are distributing is quite grotesque,”
said the agent.
In Costa Rica, those who incur in child pornography are exposed to up to three years in prison.