INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
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Police arrested 33 people in 11 different countries
Spanish
police say 33 people have been arrested globally in connection with a WhatsApp group for images of child sex abuse and other violent
content.The many "extreme" images shared in the group had been "normalised by most of its members", the force said.Arrests were made in 11
different countries across three continents, but the majority - 17 - were in Spain.Many of those arrested or being investigated in Spain are
themselves under 18, including a 15-year-old boy.Warning: Some readers may find details of this story disturbingIn Uruguay, police arrested
two people - one of whom was a mother who abused her daughter and sent images of this to the group.In another case, a 29-year-old man was
arrested for not only downloading the images, but also encouraging other group members to make contact with young girls - particularly
migrants who would be unlikely to go to the police.How were they tracked down?Spain's National Police began investigating the group more
than two years ago, after receiving an email with a tip-off.They then enlisted the help of Europol, Interpol, and the police in Ecuador and
Costa Rica.As well as Spain and Uruguay, arrests were made in the UK, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Peru, India, Italy, France, Pakistan and
Syria.What did the group share?In a statement, the police said the group shared "paedophilic content, sometimes of extreme severity,
together with other content that was legal but was not suitable for minors because of their extreme nature".Some group members had even
created "stickers" - small digital images that are easily shared, similar to emojis - of children being abused.The police also said all of
those arrested in Spain were men or boys, and that they come from a mix of social and cultural backgrounds.One of these men had fled his
home in Italy when a search was carried out
He went to a relative's home in Salamanca, unaware that it was Spain's National Police who had ordered his arrest.The operation will now
focus on identifying the children being abused in the images
You may also be interested in:Media playback is unsupported on your deviceMedia captionA police officer in the UK speaks about how
investigating child abuse has affected him
