A 46-year-old army officer from Nicosia was remanded on Friday for eight days in connection with a case of possession of child pornography which police believe may have been produced in Cyprus.
The suspect was arrested on Thursday following a tip off from Europol that the holder of a certain electronic address appeared to be sending, through Facebook, files containing child pornographic material, police said. The material was sent in September.
Following investigations, a testimony was secured implicating the 46-year-old, which led to the issue of a search warrant, executed at the man’s residence. This was the second such arrest in as many days.
“During the search, a computer, a mobile phone, and three data storage devices were found and confiscated as evidence,” police said. On the suspect’s computer police told the court that a large number of photographs was found with child pornography, including the document for which it was alerted by Europol. The suspect claimed he did not know anything as regards those photographs, the court head.
Police told the court that on the 46-year-old’s computer they found hardcore child pornography which they have not met in other similar cases, and which includes elements “reasonably suggesting that this material was recently produced and most likely in Cyprus.”
Police said it will carry out specialised tests to identify victims depicted in the photo files and whether they are in Cyprus, as well as tests regarding their production and how they were obtained. It is also in anticipation of a court order to lift the secrecy of communication between the suspect and the recipient of the child pornography file.
The suspect told police that even though he knows the person who received that material, he denies ever sending him such a file himself.
Following investigations through the Child Protection System, police said, it emerged that the recipient often visits known online fora for discussion and exchange of child pornography.
The 46-year-old is being investigated for four offences concerning the possession and distribution of child pornography, and access to child pornography.
The suspect denies all four charges.
Police, which said they are also investigating whether the suspect had sent pornographic material to other persons, aim to take a further ten depositions to build the case.
