Police Investigating Social Networking Child Porn Activity
PEMBROKE PINES (CBSMiami) – Police investigators in Pembroke Pines report that they are investigating complaints of distributing child pornography via social networking sites.
Police say accounts have surfaced on social media including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook showing pictures of nude or partially nude juveniles; most are Broward County school students. Since Tuesday, police say 18 victims have come forward. The youngest is 12.
Police say the pictures are stolen from students' phones, but they aren't saying exactly how. Whoever is posting the pictures is also allegedly asking followers to send additional pictures of themselves.
"This thing's starting to snowball a little bit to the point we're starting to get so many victims that we need to put this under control right now," said Captain Carlos Bermudez with Pembroke Pines Police.
Investigators said multiple accounts with similar names were created to try and prevent police from being able to track the accounts.
Student Jonathan Mangru said, "There's a bunch of pages. People keep finding about it. They threaten to report it. Whoever this user is keeps changing their name and keeps posting pictures up."
The pictures are often posted along with a student's name and school. Students say the pictures are circulating quickly.
"People who have been exposed say they're really sad about it. They say 'Oh it's all out there now." They feel like they're being judged by everyone," said Chris Carvajal.
Lucas Fuensalida added, "It's like devastating to some people and stuff. It's like terrible."
Police say they do have leads in the case. Uploading this type of photos is a crime and students hope whoever is doing it is punished.
"Jail, charges I think he should get what he deserves because he ruined a lot of people's high school situations," said Carvajal.
The FBI and Broward School Board Office are assisting with the case and parents are asked to contact Crime Stoppers at (954) 493-TIPS if they have information about the images.
Parents are also being asked to monitor their children's cell phones and contact police if they believe their children may be victims.