Child Pornography on the Internet: The Number of Cases Increasing in the Province

Specialists call for more dedication in the fight against child badgraphy / Shutterstock

Concussion Surprise Stupor The arrest of a pediatrician at Garrahan Hospital, accused of integrating a network producing and distributing child badgraphy, drew attention to a crime more common than people think. The resonance that resulted in the case of Ricardo Russo, who headed the immunology and rheumatology department of Garrahan Hospital, is related to the post he held. But according to experts in cybercrime, complaints of pedophilia and child badgraphy are daily in the country. They total six daily newspapers, an increasing number, of which 40% correspond to the province of Buenos Aires. And they motivate between one and two arrests a day.

The data come from the Judicial Office of the Prosecutor General's Office in Buenos Aires where, since 2013, more than 25,000 reports related to pedophilia, child badgraphy, badual harbadment, abuse and violations have been processed. . In this context, child badgraphy complaints, which in the last registration, corresponding to 2015, were 6 per day, have increased in recent years.

In this context and in the midst of the turmoil brought about by the case of Garrahan's doctor, the Argentine Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse (Asapmi) pointed out that this episode had generated " feelings of indignation and dismay at the extreme vulnerability of the "victim" population and it was stated that "the fight against badgraphy, pedophilia and pedophilia deserved greater knowledge and greater dedication" .

At the same time, the specialists consulted by this journal badyzed the legal and technological aspects of this crime, as well as the profile of those who commit it and the difficulties in detecting it (see separately).

The specialists' concern about the case of the Russo pediatrician is far from representing an isolated event.

The consumption and distribution of child badgraphy is growing in our country, which is considered to be one of the top ten providers of this type of content in the world.

According to official data, about 185 videos of this type are the subject of daily traffic in Argentina, a number that is also increasing, since in 2013, they were about 35 per week.

It is estimated that in 2018, the total traffic amounted to 66,000 videos.

The non-governmental organization Grooming Argentina stated that its country was one of the top 10 countries with the highest child badgraphy traffic.

The current law establishes that making, possessing and distributing such material is a crime against badual integrity as defined in the Penal Code (see annex) and more and more efforts are being made internationally to disrupt the networks that are dedicated to this traffic.

The arrest of pediatrician Russo was inscribed in this type of international collaboration.

As part of the investigation, a total of 40 addresses were searched in Argentina, the United States and Brazil.

The case originated in an international operation called "Luz de Infancia III" conducted by the United States Internal Security Authorities (FBI) and the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Brazilian Prosecution.

Argentina is on the list of the ten countries where child badgraphy is most often trafficked

The reason for this investigation was that there was a reason in Argentina for the Special Prosecutor's Office "to conduct searches throughout the country, including seven in the city of Buenos Aires", it was explained. .

The searches revealed the existence of "several facts of distribution of child badgraphy content made by users based in this country, via the P2P platform" E-mule ".

In addition, raids were conducted in the United States and Brazil, including one at the home of the accused Garrahan pediatrician.

"It was possible to connect the person and it was a material removed.In this type of groups, there is talk of a network where the badgraphic content is distributed to them," said sources of research and added "their participation in the case is undeniable".

According to experts, child badgraphy networks generally operate on the "deep web", which includes content that is not openly accessible in search engines such as Google.

"The" deep web "or" invisible web "refers to any type of content that is not searchable by search engines, which means that they are not discovered openly in Google," said Christian Borghello , specialist in computer security.

According to the specialist "some people use this tool for criminal purposes, such as child badgraphy, drugs, trafficking in human beings, etc."