More and more cases of child pornography in Thuringia – the clear-up rate is high, also thanks to information from an independent organization in the USA.
Erfurt (dpa/th) – The number of criminal offenses through the distribution and possession of child pornography has risen sharply in Thuringia in the past three years. According to the Ministry of the Interior in Erfurt, it increased from a total of 327 cases in 2019 to 893 cases last year. This emerges from a response from the ministry to a state parliament request from the CDU domestic politician Raymond Walk.
The ministry identified the trend in the distribution, acquisition and possession of content depicting the abuse of children and young people as worrying. The number of cases had increased by more than 100 percent during this period. Thuringia is in the national trend.
The Ministry sees one reason for the significant increase in improved international cooperation between investigators. Tips from the American non-governmental organization National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) played an important role.
Walk welcomed the improved international cooperation. However, more value should also be placed on Thuringia’s own investigative work. “Only the information from foreign authorities and organizations is not enough.” The increased use of specialized cyber investigators in the Free State is necessary.
The CDU MP gave a positive assessment of the consistently high clear-up rate, which according to the ministry has been around 95 percent in recent years. Distributing and possessing child pornography is punishable by imprisonment of between one and ten years.
According to the Home Office, the number of cases of sexual abuse of children and young people totaled 615 in 2019, up from 497 two years later. “These are terrible crimes. We must do everything we can to prevent and solve these acts,” Walk said . According to the Ministry of the Interior, the clear-up rate for sexual abuse of children and young people in 2021 was just over 90 percent.
