The Jakarta Metro Police confiscated around 750,000 photos and videos containing child pornography over the weekend following the arrest of three suspected pedophiles.
According to the police, the three suspects, who were arrested separately in Purworejo, Garut, and Bogor, sold child pornography to buyers online. The suspects, all male, mostly sold photos and videos of young boys.
“We will identify the victims. We will find out who (of the kids in the photos and videos) that the suspects knew,” said Grand Commissioner Abi Deriyan, director of the Special Crimes Unit at the Jakarta Metro Police, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.
In their initial investigation of the 750,000 photos and videos, the police said that around 40% of them were of local children.
The suspects admitted to the police that they were part of pedophile chat groups in Telegram and Whatsapp, in which people share child pornography among each other. The suspects then sold the photos and videos to buyers via Twitter.
The Jakarta Metro Police believe that the suspects are affiliated with or have sold content to pedophiles from 49 other countries, including the US, Saudi Arabia, India and even neighboring Malaysia.
The authorities have not revealed what charges the suspects would face, but they hinted that they would be given multiple charges for violations of Indonesia’s anti-pornography laws and child protection laws.
