Cops bust online child porn ring

(ANSA) - Catania, August 1 - Authorities have searched homes in 22 cities and arrested two people in a joint German and Italian police operation to bust an international child pornography ring, sources said Friday.
    A total of 34 Italians have been placed under investigation for allegedly downloading and posting hardcore child porn videos showing very young children being raped and tortured, police said.
    The operation code-named 'eDonkey2000' has so far led to the arrest of a 63-year-old in Milan and a 43-year-old in Bologna. Both were caught red-handed in possession of child pornography, investigators said.
    Homes were searched in the cities of Bologna, Brescia, Cagliari, Catania, Como, Cuneo, Ferrara, Florence, Livorno, Milan, Messina, Naples, Novara, Pesaro, Pisa, Ragusa, Rome, Savona, Siena, Siracusa, Turin, and Verona. The alleged sex offenders used a peer-to-peer program called eDonkey2000 to upload and share the hardcore child pornography, according to investigators. German police shared data that helped investigators identify the alleged culprits. The operation was coordinated by the Rome-based National Center Against Online Child Pornography (CNCPO). "We congratulate the forces of law and order for busting this online pedophile ring," said Democratic Party MP Edoardo Patriarca, who sits on the Lower House social affairs committee.
    "I am convinced the government will increase funding to combat this plague".