Poland arrests 100 men in child sex abuse investigation

FILE: Polish police officers are seen in Warsaw, Poland. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

WARSAW, Poland -- Polish police announced on Thursday that they had arrested 100 men suspected of producing, distributing or possessing child sex abuse material, as part of a large-scale operation against cybercrime.

The men range in age from 18 to 75 and two were charged with rape of minors while one was said to be among “the 10 most active producers and distributors of paedophile content in Poland,” a statement read.

Thirty-seven were being held in custody, it added.

Officers seized at least 600,000 files of child sex abuse and bestiality in the operation, which was codenamed “Game Over.”

Marcin Zagorski, a spokesman for the police cybercrime bureau, told AFP that “Game Over” is the largest operation out of seven conducted in Poland in the last three years.

A total of 477 people have been charged as a result, he added.

Those arrests risk punishment ranging from three months to 15 years in prison.