La Quotidienne de Bruxelles - France detains 55 men in paedophile ring crackdown

The arrests took place in 42 departments over possession, distribution and regular viewing of pornography involving children "under the age of 10", France's OFMIN, which is tasked with preventing violence against minors, told AFP.

The OFMIN issued the warrant that led to the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in Paris in 2024, and he remains under formal investigation by French authorities over illegal content on the popular service.

The arrests of the 55 men, which followed a 10-month investigation, took place from Monday to Thursday.

The suspects, aged 25 to 75, come from all walks of life and include a priest, a paramedic and a music teacher.

The men exchanged messages on Telegram and were in contact with "extremely dangerous" paedophiles who have been in prison since last summer, Quentin Bevan, head of the OFMIN's operational unit, told AFP.

The large-scale operation began last summer with the arrest of individuals suspected of abusing children and posting images on Telegram.

The suspects are being investigated for human trafficking and face life imprisonment.

"It took ten months of investigation to track down these child abusers," Bevan said. "Ten months of undercover work involving thousands of exchanges, analysis and detection of paedophile images by a task force set up at the OFMIN."

The suspects either have children or grandchildren or come into contact with children at work.

Some of the suspects boasted of abusing children while they slept but now claim they did not actually commit any crimes, according to investigators.

One man, who denies committing any crime, could not explain why he had bought a thong for an 8-year-old girl.

- 'Paedophile den' -

Durov has been charged with several counts of failing to curb extremist and terrorist content.

Investigators have confronted Durov with specific cases ranging from child abuse to drug trading, scams, arms sales and the hiring of hitmen.

The Russian-born entrepreneur has since announced steps appearing to bow to Paris's demands.

While Bevan acknowledged progress in Telegram's cooperation with investigators since Durov's arrest, he said the platform was "barely fulfilling its legal obligations".

He said that Telegram remains a "paedophile den" and a "platform of choice" for child abusers.

In June 2024, France shut down the Coco adult website which was used to commit numerous sex crimes such as paedophilia and rape.

After that some paedophiles are believed to have switched to Telegram, according to an investigator.

Durov has recently accused the chief of France's DGSE foreign intelligence service of requesting to ban pro-conservative Romanian accounts from the platform ahead of elections.

The DGSE has rejected the claims.

Durov says Telegram has sought to fight against child abuse for years.

"Falsely implying Telegram did nothing to remove child porn is a manipulation tactic," he posted on X earlier this week.

Durov is subject to judicial supervision, which prohibits him from leaving France without authorisation from authorities.

France has recently denied Durov's request to travel to the United States for talks with investment funds.

F.Claes--LCdB