Maddie cops arrest pedophile suspects

[sarahhod]

Maddie cops arrest pedophile suspects

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24935862-5012749,00.html




From correspondents in Madrid

January 19, 2009 10:30pm

SPANISH private detectives investigating the 2007 disappearance of a British girl from a resort in Portugal have uncovered an internet pedophile ring.

Police arrested 13 suspects as a result of the investigation by investigators from the Barcelona-based Metodo-3 agency, who had been hired by Gerry and Kate McCann to trace their daughter Madeleine, El Mundo reported in its online edition today.

Madeleine McCann, disappeared on May 3, 2007 from their holiday apartment at the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz as they dined with friends at a nearby restaurant.

She was three years old at the time.

The agency's investigators were hired six months after her disappearance.

Two months into their investigation, they received an email claiming that Madeleine featured in a pedophile video posted on the Internet, El Mundo reported.

Although it turned out that she did not feature in the video, the agency tipped off Spanish police who subsequently arrested the suspects in a series of raids in December 2008.

As well as those arrested, police questioned another 10 people and seized a large quantity of computer equipment.

Spain has staged a series of operations against Internet child pornography in recent years, arresting more than 1200 people over the last five years - of whom 408 were arrested in 2008 alone.

Madeleine McCann's parents have been funding a private investigation to try to find out what happened to their daughter.

The Portuguese authorities closed their probe into her disappearance in July 2008.

[sarahhod]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/4290139/Madeleine-McCann-detectives-claim-role-in-paedophile-arrests.html



Madeleine McCann detectives claim role in paedophile arrests
The Spanish detective agency that was contracted to find Madeleine McCann has claimed that it was responsible for the arrest of ten paedophiles running an internet site.


By Edward Owen in Madrid
Last Updated: 2:16PM GMT 19 Jan 2009

Madeleine McCann detectives claim role in paedophile arrests
The agency had made various claims concerning the whereabouts and imminent finding of Madeleine. At the same time it was moving into luxurious new offices and the Spanish media raised more questions than answers when checking its credentials and track rec.

The agency, Método 3 in Barcelona, said it received a tip that there were photographs of Madeleine on the site but this turned out to be false.

But after collaborating with the Spanish national police, thirteen arrests were made and now ten face charges for running "the worst" paedophile site ever seen by the Spanish police.

"In the videos the victims are all children under ten years old," said Francisco Marco, head of Método 3.

"I'm glad to have taken more than 20 paedophiles out of circulation, more than the number the police detained."

Police sources in Barcelona say they launched Operation Lolita P-mix after getting the tip off from Método 3.

They confirmed that 21 Spanish users of the child pornography site had been identified in Spain. Computers, cameras, DVDs, CDs and photo albums were seized in raids across Spain.

But no links with the Madeleine case were ever found.

Método 3 has been anxious to improve its reputation after its controversial, 75,000 euros a month, contract with the McCann Fund was terminated amid a flurry of accusations.

The agency had made various claims concerning the whereabouts and imminent finding of Madeleine. At the same time it was moving into luxurious new offices and the Spanish media raised more questions than answers when checking its credentials and track record.

[sarahhod]

Maddie hunt led to 13 arrests

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/maddie/article2147562.ece

By STAFF REPORTER

Published: Today
THE hunt for missing Madeleine McCann has led to the smashing of a paedophile porn ring in Spain, it was revealed today.

Cops arrested 13 suspects and an investigation was launched into ten others after the private detective agency hired by the McCann family got a tip-off.

The Barcelona-based agency was brought in six months after Maddie disappeared from their holiday apartment on Portugal’s Algarve coast in May, 2007.

The tip claimed Madeleine was amongst kids shown in pornographic videos being distributed on the net.

'Abundant'

The Metodo 3 detective agency traced the video material but found Maddie was not one of the children shown.

All the information though was passed on to Spain’s National Police which opened an investigation.

Last month a series of raids were carried-out across Spain and 13 people were arrested.

Ten others are being investigated by a judge in Barcelona in over-all charge of the inquiry.

Francisco Marco, the head of the detective agency, said the videos were “the worst I have ever seen in my life”.

He said all the children shown were under ten years old.

A spokesman at National Police headquarters in Madrid confirmed today that information supplied by the Metodos agency had led to the arrests.

He added “abundant material” was seized including 28 hard discs containing pornographic film using various children, all of them younger than ten.

[sarahhod]

Spanish search for Madeleine McCann unearths paedophile network
By h.b. - Jan 19, 2009 - 12:27 PM

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_19683.shtml



13 people have been arrested and a further ten indicted in Spain following the Método3 investigation.

The continuing search for the missing British youngster, Madeleine McCann has unearthed a network of paedophiles and resulted in the arrest of 13 people.
The Barcelona detective agency Método3 unearthed the group which shared videos of children aged under ten.

In addition to the 13 people arrested in Spain in the case, a further ten have been indicted, according to sources close to the case quoted by newspaper El Mundo.

The Spanish detective agency obtained information that Madeleine McCann could be among a crowd of children in a paedophile video found on the Internet in file sharing programs. This opened the line of investigation and General Manager of Metodo3, Francisco Marco, commented that the images are the worst he has seen in his life.

21 Spanish users were found to have downloaded the video in ten regions of the country in a police operation which was carried out on December 9.

Five computers, 47 hard disks and 133 CDs and DVDs have been impounded.

[Sioux_Girl]

I think its good that any thing like this is stopped. Its pure evil.

Regarding Metado themselves..My personal feeling is there corrupt. Apparently there contract with Kennedy was cancelled.

[Claycat]

I'm certainly glad they have gotten some of this scum off the streets!