Several arrests in raids on suspected paedophile ring
A Stockholm court has ordered the detention of four people on suspicion of severe child pornography, according to a statement from the Swedish Prosecution Authority.
The detentions on Friday follow the arrests of seven men during night-time raids carried out in central Sweden over the past few days, newspaper Dagens Nyheter reports.
According to the Prosecution Authority, there are eight suspects in total, four of whom have received detention orders. Another three are under arrest and one person was released after questioning but is still suspected of child pornography.
The police’s National Operations Department (Noa) had planned the raids for several weeks, according to the newspaper. They had received a tip-off about one of the suspects, who had previously been investigated for child rape.
“It’s an ongoing operation and I have no comments at this stage,” Noa’s Anders Ahlqvist told Dagens Nyheter, whose reporters were present during one of the raids.
The police have apparently mapped out a paedophile ring after the weeks-long operation which involved surveillance and wiretapping.
The network is reportedly made up of men aged between 50 and 70. House searches are currently being conducted in order to gather and secure evidence, which apparently includes films showing sadistic assaults on children. However, it is unclear whether or not the suspects have carried out the assaults shown in the videos.
One of the suspects has previously been convicted of severe sexual assaults on boys and was discharged from a psychiatric care unit in 2015.
