Child pornography, online games and videos with child abuse: 7 arrests and 23 complaints

The maxi operation called "Sweet Strip", coordinated by the Rome Prosecutor's Office, led to the identification of 30 people dedicated to the dissemination of child pornography. The investigations began after the complaint of the mother of a minor under 14 years old, lured on a well-known instant messaging platform by an adult who had induced her to participate in an erotic game called "Omegle Game".

Seven people arrested and 23 reported released. This is the outcome of a maxi operation to combat the production and dissemination of child pornography called "Sweet Strip" conducted by the State Police throughout the national territory. The investigation, coordinated by the Rome Prosecutor's Office, made it possible to identify 30 individuals, after filtering and identifying numerous people residing in various Italian locations, and to seize hundreds of giga bytes of videos depicting child abuse, as well as 60 computer media and 895 grams of marijuana, found in the Roman home of one of the arrested persons.

The erotic game “Omegle Game”

The investigations began after the complaint of the mother of a minor under 14 years old, lured onto a well-known instant messaging platform by an adult who had induced her to participate in an erotic game called "Omegle Game". A points game, the investigators explain, which consisted of a series of challenges with sexually explicit content: five points for taking off a t-shirt, 10 points for showing one's underwear in chat, up to a maximum of 50 points for performing autoerotic acts.

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Games aimed at luring minors

The instant messaging channel, on which numerous other videos were found, allowed accredited users to chat, either via text or video, with randomly matched adult strangers. To be able to participate in the game, it was necessary to be introduced through an invitation link, making an electronic payment or in cryptocurrencies. Cosc Lazio has identified the four people who physically created and organized the gaming chats aimed at soliciting minors, with related production and sharing of child pornography material with subsequent online trade and consequent earnings.

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Child pornography, seven arrests in Lombardy, Veneto and Tuscany

Two minors were also among those responsible

The Postal Police concentrated on a particular paid channel, called Lumaca, in which 30 people dedicated to the dissemination of child pornography were identified. 30 house and IT searches were carried out throughout the national territory, at the disposal of the Rome Prosecutor's Office and with the operational involvement of the Cosc of Lombardy, Veneto, Piedmont, Umbria, Campania, Sardinia, Puglia and Calabria, which allowed the perpetrators, including two minors, to be brought to justice.