Italy arrests 17 over online child abuse network

Italian police have arrested 17 people in an investigation into an Italy-based international network that distributed child sexual abuse material online, Rome prosecutors said Thursday.

Prosecutors said an undercover Italian officer gained the trust of the network's administrators, became a co-administrator and accessed private channels.

Rome chief prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi said the organisation was structured like a multinational company. Prosecutors said it was run by four Italians and a Swiss national.

Investigators have obtained about 283 gigabytes of illegal material, including more than 22,000 videos and 34,000 images involving children as young as four, prosecutors said.

The operation, called Fly Trap, led to a Telegram community named New Saga with more than 1,000 users worldwide. Prosecutors said access required small cryptocurrency payments described as donations of between $3 and $9, or the provision of new material.

Italian authorities identified 996 accounts linked to 98 countries and shared the information with foreign authorities, leading to several arrests. The investigation began in 2024 after a tip from US Homeland Security Investigations and is continuing.