International paedophilia network busted (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, October 25 - Police have arrested seven people following a three-year investigation into an international network of paedophiles, sources said on Tuesday. The suspects allegedly produced and exchanged child pornography resulting from the abuse of dozens of minors via the deep web before the gang was dismantled. For the first time in Italy, they face prosecution for alleged transnational criminal association for paedophilia and child pornography.
    The investigation was led by Italian postal police experts coordinated by the Rome anti-mafia department and supported by Europol's European Cybercrime Center di Europol.
    The probe saw constant cooperation with the FBI and Australian police in Queensland, where noted paedophile Shannon McCoole was arrested in 2014 along with his two deputies, a Dutchman and a Danish man, to whom the Italian network was directly linked, police said.
    The Italian postal police probe enabled them to give Europol several leads towards identifying several dozen minors who have been the victims of sex abuse and luring via the Internet.