Child pornography probe: Three police teams deployed
- Youth who shared nearly 500 obscene pieces of content, arrested
- Child pornography probe by CID Cyber Crimes Unit
By Yoshitha Perera
Three police teams have been deployed to probe and arrest individuals who are posting child pornography on the internet, Police Media Spokesperson and National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) Director SDIG Ajith Rohana told the media yesterday (7).
Issuing a media statement, SDIG Rohana said that a youth who had shared nearly 500 obscene videos and photographs, has been arrested by the Police and was due to be produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court. Subsequently, the youth remanded till 20 August.
“The suspect is a resident from the Badalkumbura area and was arrested last Saturday for posting child pornography on the internet. The raid was carried out by the Police Children and Women’s Bureau,” he said.
SDIG Rohana further stated that according to police reports, the 25-year-old suspect has been using two fake accounts to add pornographic videos to the internet on a daily basis.
A special police unit called the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children was established in July to investigate more than 17,000 video clips and photographs related to child pornography which were uploaded to the internet from Sri Lanka in the last two months.
Meanwhile, the President has appointed SDIG Rohana as the Director of NCPA in addition to his duties.
According to available details, this content was uploaded using laptops, desktops, tabs, and mobile phones.
Meanwhile, speaking to The Sunday Morning, Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SLCERT) Information Security Engineer Ravindu Meegasmulla said that at present, investigations into child pornography are solely carried out by the Cyber Crimes Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
“At present, we are not assisting them with the probe. However, if we come across any incident related to such matter, we will direct relevant parties to the CID.”
Meegasmulla further added that the SLCERT does not have legal powers to conduct or assist such probes, though in the future, it would assist the probe if the law enforcement authorities need any technical assistance.
