Israeli police have arrested more than 30 alleged pedophiles who are members of what is being called an “online ring.” However, it does not appear that the men knew each other or collaborated with each other in executing their crimes. The undercover investigation that nabbed the men was headed by the National Fraud Unit, and is being described as the first of kind to take place in Israel. Similar police stings have been executed all over the Western world for more than a decade.
Israeli Cops Bust Massive online Pedophile “Ring”
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Israeli police have arrested more than 30 alleged pedophiles who are members of what is being called an “online ring,” Ynet reports.
However, it does not appear that the men knew each other or collaborated with each other in executing their crimes.
The undercover investigation that nabbed the men was headed by the National Fraud Unit, and is being described as the first of kind to take place in Israel.
Similar police stings have been executed all over the Western world for more than a decade.
The arrested reportedly include students, civil servants, a defense official, a former police officer, an agronomist and others. They range in age from 20- to 57-years-old and come from all over Israel.
Police started the investigation in April after recruiting a cooperating witness – a pedophile who they arrested and who agreed to cooperate with police.
With the help of the arrested pedophile, police posted a false profile of a 12-year-old girl online and waited for pedophiles to contact her.
They did, offering her gifts and money to meet them.
"I knew that pedophiles operated online,” the police officer who managed the fake online profile told Ynet, “but I was shocked by how extensive it was. I told them I was 12 and that I was shy, but it didn’t even deter them. They went to great lengths to try to get me to meet with them. The conversations were very sexual in nature. It was appalling."
The alleged pedophiles are heard on recordings released by the police promising her anything she wanted in exchange for a meeting.
"I'm dying to meet you. Maybe we can go somewhere, find a quiet place in the woods," one told her.
Some of the men sent her photos of themselves in sexual positions or performing sex acts.
Police believe the more than 30 men arrested in this sting represent only the tip of the iceberg, and that there is much more online pedophilia in Israel.
"Cyberspace is a dangerous place,” Major-General Moti Aderi, of the National Fraud Unit said in a message to Israeli parents.