The prosecutor investigating a former Misiones provincial deputy and his brother for paedophilia and child pornography says shocking images found in their possession included pictures of newborns, young children and teenagers.
Cybercrime and technology prosecutor Daniela Dupuy praised the “excellent work” that has allowed Argentina’s Judiciary to press ahead with the arrest of ex-provincial deputy Germán Kiczka and his brother Sebastián Kiczka, who were captured by police last week after six days on the run.
Speaking to the press about the investigation, Dupuy said in remarks reported by the Noticias Argentinas news agency that devices seized during searches of properties linked to the Kiczka brothers had uncovered shocking images.
The prosecutor indicated that the former lawmaker and his brother were “up against it” in the courts due to the wealth of evidence seized.
Both of the brothers have been accused of the possession and distribution of material featuring child sexual abuse, though prosecutors are still investigating if they were involved in the creation of the files.
“We’re talking about a person in Misiones, but behind this lawmaker there is an international organisation of sexual exploitation of children and teenagers,” said Dupy, the head of a Buenos Aires City public prosecutor’s unit that specialises in cyber crime.
The investigation, which began in January after an alert by the US organisation ICMEC (International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children), has uncovered more than 600 files featuring child sexual abuse, including images of newborn babies, children and teenagers.
“I’m talking about children aged 0 to 13, besides others between 13 and 18 years old,” Dupy said.
“When we talk about child sexual exploitation I think the public can’t fathom what those words mean. We’re seeing how adults sexually abuse children or teenagers” in this case, she stated.
City prosecutors have worked with the courts in Misiones on the case. Dupuy said now investigators had to analyse each video to determine whether Germán and Sebastián were only consumers of the material or if they helped produce it.
Meanwhile, as the investigation continues, the judge overseeing the case ordered the search of a site owned by provincial lawmaker Pedro Puerta, who hails from the Activar party to which Germán Kiczka belonged.
Puerta, the son of ex-Misiones governor and former president Ramón Puerta, is believed to have a social club and cigarette factory at the site.
Judge Miguel Ángel Faria requested the search after learning that Germán Kiczka previously frequented the site. of Bar Social, belonging to Ramón Puerta’s son, where a disco and a cigarette factory are run.
Pedro Puerta, who has sought to distance himself from the investigation and his former party colleague since the allegations were made public, said in comments to local media that the expelled provincial lawmaker only “commissioned sales” at his Cigarrillos Misioneros firm and that “he was no employee of the factory.”
– TIMES/NA
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