Police in France arrested 55 men for trafficking child pornography via Telegram
The detainees range between 25 and 75 years of age and have diverse profiles: a priest, a grandfather, an ambulance driver, a music teacher, single and "good family fathers."
The logo of mobile messaging and calling service Telegram on the screen of a smartphone.
Police in France arrested 55 men as part of a major operation to dismantle a child pornography network operating through the encrypted messaging service Telegram, authorities said Thursday.
The arrests took place earlier this week at several locations across the Gallic country for possession, dissemination and repeated viewing of pornographic content involving children of "less than 10 years old," according to AFP which consulted the Ofmin juvenile office.
Those arrested range in age from 25 to 75 and have diverse profiles: a priest, a grandfather, an ambulance driver, a music teacher, single and "good family fathers," said Quentin Bevan of l'Ofmin.
"Telegram remains the platform of choice for pedo-criminals."
These men exchanged messages on Telegram and were linked to "extremely dangerous" criminals, imprisoned since mid-2024 for such acts, the organization's commissioner added.
The operation began about 10 months ago with the arrest of men who abused children and posted the assaults on the messaging app founded by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov.
"Telegram remains the platform of choice for pedo-criminals," said Bevan, who acknowledged progress in cooperation with the platform following the arrest of Durov in August, although it "barely fulfills the minimum of its obligations."
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The French judiciary has charged the founder of Telegram, a 40-year-old who became a naturalized French citizen in 2021, of complicity in criminal activities. He remains free under judicial supervision measures.
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