Two held in child porn raids

TWO men were arrested yesterday on suspicion of possession and distribution of child pornography through the internet.

A 25-year-old man from the Limassol district and another of 29, from the Nicosia district, were yesterday arrested, questioned and remanded in custody in connection with investigations into the sexual abuse of underage children and possession and distribution of child pornography through the internet.

Police Spokesman Demetris Demetriou confirmed the men’s arrest.

The Nicosia District Court yesterday ordered the 29-year-old’s five-day remand, said Demetriou. “A four-day remand was issued for the 25-year-old,” he added.

“The police are very concerned about this,” he went on.

“At times the police are informed about such crimes, through Interpol, Europol and other international organisations and move forward with investigations into the accusations that have been made and the information that has been given”.

The two men had no record of involvement in similar cases in the past, said the police spokesman, and as far as he knew, the men had not been in trouble with the police in other unrelated cases.

According to the official police announcement, the 25-year-old was arrested after members of the CID searched his house – with a court order – and found two computers, which after preliminary inspections, proved to contain a large number of archives featuring child pornography.

A number of compact discs were also found containing pornographic material and confiscated for further examining.

The suspect’s 18-year-old-brother was also questioned in connection with the case, the police said.

The 29-year-old had been arrested after CID police searched his house – also with a court order – to investigate a case of hacking. There, they found compact disks, floppy disks and a computer. Initial examinations showed that the computer and one floppy disc, contained pornographic material.

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