Child-pornography network includes teachers, doctor, past offender

Emerging  results of the recent international operation -“Luz de Infancia 5”-  against child pornography which extended, across six countries reveal that Panama has played a  key role in a network that transmits images and videos of children as young as five, involved in sexual acts with adults.

While police in the US, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, and Venezuela  were raiding homes of recipients of material  in Panama authorities carried out  13 simultaneous strikes that uncovered  large amount of technological equipment with child-porn and led to the apprehension of 10 people including, three  practising teachers, one in a public special education school in Los Santos, and the other two in private schools in San Miguelito and Juan Díaz.

In the home of the Juan Díaz, teacher, aged 49, police found two laptops, SD cards, hard drives, and removable disks, as well as usbs. One of the devices had a sample of 84 images and 10 videos of child pornography of children between five and 10 years old.

In addition, a 52-year-old man was arrested for the crime for which he was convicted in 2007 and release after serving two thirds of the sentence.

In San Carlos a doctor was arrested and in Arraiján a computer programmer, linked to child pornography

Another of the detainees turned out to be a public official in Chiriquí and two Venezuelans in Natá, Cocle province, who were ordered provisional detention.

In Panama, production, distribution, possession and child pornography is punishable by imprisonment

of 10 to 15 years in prison and in case of possession for own consumption with imprisonment of 5 to 10 years.