Police sex crimes unit uncovers hundreds of cases of child abuse

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An investigative unit of the Helsinki police which started operations at the beginning of the year says that it has uncovered hundreds of sex crimes in which more than 30 children were victims.
      Nine suspects have been arrested, three have been tried and convicted, and the rest remain suspects, says Det. Inspector Jonna Turunen of the team. All of those arrested are men living in the Helsinki region. Nearly all are middle-aged.
      Police say that most of the men contacted the victims over the Internet on IRC channels or message boards.
     
A special investigative unit was set up by Helsinki police at the beginning of the year focusing on sex crimes targeting children, especially over the Internet. The group has a mandate to operate through the end of the year.
      The team briefed journalists about the results of the work at a press conference on Wednesday.
      The group seeks to find out about cases that the children themselves do not discuss. "These acts often involve feelings of guilt and shame on the part of the child, which is why they do not want to discuss it with adults", Turunen notes.
      In some of the cases the investigation was sparked by a tipoff from the public, but Turunen says that many others came to light through the investigative efforts of the team itself. She would not go into details about the team’s investigative methods.
      Victims in the cases came from different parts of Finland. They include boys and girls from ordinary families aged six to 17.
     
Individual suspected acts of sex crimes involving children number in the hundreds. The oldest date back to 1999, and the most recent ones are from the late summer this year.
      The most serious involve actual intercourse with a minor. Other acts include urging a child to masturbate or to look at pornography.
      Police have found hundreds of photographs and video clips containing child pornography. Hundreds of pictures from the Internet depicting children were also found, which did not qualify as pornography as such, although Turunen says that the suspects got sexual gratification from them as well.
      Suspected crimes under investigation include child sexual abuse, aggravated child sexual abuse, possession of child pornography, and the purchase of sex services from a minor.
      In one case, which is still under investigation, a teacher is suspected of abusing his professional position by sexually molesting a child. That case was already reported by Helsingin Sanomat in May.
     
Police also say that some of the suspects have been in contact with each other. According to Det. Chief Insp. Kari Tolvanen, head of the violent crimes unit of the Helsinki police, some of the suspects have exchanged photographs of the victims, as well as other personal information.
      Nevertheless, the police do not see the men as forming an actual "ring of paedophiles". Tolvanen notes that such a ring would involve more planning and more extensive activities than the evidence so far suggests.
     
According to a television news report, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is also investigating a series of sex crimes targeting dozens of girls aged 12 and 13.
      The perpetrator and the victims met over the Internet. The suspect in the case is a 40-year-old man from South Finland, who has been detained on suspicion of several counts of aggravated sexual assault on children.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Oulu man on paedophilia charges suspected of intimidating witnesses (18.8.2006)

Helsingin Sanomat