Hong Kong Police officers have arrested 21 men for possessing and distributing thousands of child pornography content and numerous indecent images of children online, local outlets detailed.
The Hong Kong Free Press reports the arrests in the former British outpost stem from a police operation known as “Bravestrike” after the existence of a private social media group used to share the child pornography material was confirmed.
The group of detainees, which includes private tutors, are aged between 19 to 47. The group also includes students, technicians, cleaners, and construction workers, among other occupations.
Hong Kong Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group (TKWW), a state-owned outlet, detailed on Friday the child pornography-sharing group had over 100 members.
Photos and videos, including some of female students’ private parts taken during lessons by private tutors, were also found in the group chat, with its members discussing and sharing the offensive content. The group’s administrators allegedly charged an access fee to its members to access the child sexual exploitation images.
Police officers reportedly seized dozens of electronic and storage devices, finding over 7,200 child pornography photos and over 120 secretly-recorded videos. HK police officers are reportedly working to take down the unspecified social media group used and the online images.
According to state-owned outlets, eight of the 21 arrested men stand accused of “possession of child pornography,” while 13 face accusations of “illegally filming private parts” and “distributing private images.”
Wong Yick-lung, Superintendent of the Kowloon East regional crime headquarters, detailed that indecent images believed to have been secretly filmed in public locations across Hong Kong were also found to have been shared by the group.
The photos are believed to have been taken in shopping malls, train station escalators, and public transportation places, among other locations. Per TKWW, it is understood the videos were mainly filmed with phones.
“Even more jarringly, a private tutor photographed a female student’s intimate parts during their lessons and later shared the images with other members of the online platform,” Wong reportedly in Cantonese during a press conference.
Wong reportedly urged parents to pay extra attention to their children watching for any signs of sexual abuse, and suggested parents who have hired private tutors to use available local resources to conduct a sexual conviction record check from the police.
HK police officers emphasized that, under Hong Kong law, anyone who joins online groups sharing footage of that nature is considered an accomplice in similar manner to those who filmed it.