According to CID Investigator Marios Nicolettis, the suspect, who for the past
two years has been a permanent resident of Cyprus, had created his own website
that channeled and stored pornographic pictures of minors.
When police officials raided his Yermasoyia home, the suspect was in the
process of upgrading his website.
During the raid, officers found three computers and a large number of CDs
featuring explicit pictures and video clips of minors.
Police were tipped off on the case by a message from the Canadian Interpol
Department, who informed the Cypriot authorities that a website featuring child
porn had been set up from Limassol.
"According to our preliminary investigations, the suspect was also operating a
further six websites of a similar nature and earning well from the loyal
subscribers of his business," Nicolettis told the court.
He added: "We are currently investigating whether some of the minors in the
material might be from Cyprus, while police have also managed to recognise one
of the victims - a child that was part of a paedophile ring in the United
States."
The investigator told the court that "we have not ruled out the possibility
that the suspect may be in league with other individuals, most likely Cypriots,
and that more arrests could occur in the next few days."
Police will be taking around 45 statements in the case.
This is the second such arrest in the past few months, made by police after
co-operation with foreign agencies.
Last August, a municipality employee was arrested after around 200,000
pornographic videos and pictures involving children were found on computers at
his work and home.
The 45-year-old father of three was caught after Interpol in Germany
intercepted the IP address on his computer downloading a video containing child
pornography.
