Child porn: 27 arrested in Spain
By CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Police have arrested 27 people across Spain for allegedly distributing child pornography on the Internet, a Spanish Interior Ministry spokesman said.
"It was a distribution network, used in chats and forums," said the spokesman, who asked not to be identified.
After analyzing thousands of computer files, Spanish authorities uncovered video of children -- some as young as five years old -- taped in the United States, Sweden and Asia, according to a National Police spokesman.
The investigation started last May by Spanish police and culminated with the arrests starting Tuesday afternoon and ending early Wednesday. The arrests were carried out in 24 cities in 10 of Spain's 17 regions, according to a National Police statement.
The forums and chats discussing the pornography were in Spanish. Those arrested are under official investigation for allegedly engaging in prostitution and for corrupting minors through the alleged distribution of child pornography on the Internet, the police statement said.
The police examined 6,388 computer images and found that more than 5,000 of them had illicit child pornography. Thirty computers were seized in the raids, the police statement said.
Spanish police believe they have sufficient information to locate some of the suspects involved in the child pornography enterprise outside of Spain, the National Police spokesman said.
Of the 27 arrests, five were in the Madrid region, six in the eastern Valencia region, five in the southern Andalucia region, and the rest in other parts of Spain, the police statement said.
