Spain arrests 186 in child pornography crackdown

MADRID - Spanish police have arrested 186 people throughout the country in a crackdown on the distribution of child pornography, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.

In two parallel operations, 650 officers searched 188 homes and found evidence of child pornography distribution across the Internet using "peer-to-peer" (P2P) software and a system of passwords.

In a statement, the ministry said the material included all kinds of pornographic images of children engaged in explicit sexual acts with other minors and with adult men and women.

The operations were part of a high-priority police crackdown on child pornography and were the most extensive ever undertaken in Spain.

Using the P2P software, those using the illicit group would need passwords to send each other pornographic material without having to post it on a Web page.

Last month police broke up a group of paedophiles who raped babies and distributed pictures of their crimes over the Internet. One of the group advertised as a cut-price babysitter.

- REUTERS