On Sunday, the police arrested a 16-year-old boy on suspicion of "selling" a booklet he produced containing intimate photos of women, for which he allegedly received a cumulative sum of approximately $26,000.
The suspect placed under arrest
(Video: Israel Police)
The cybercrime department of the Northern District Police has been conducting an undercover investigation in recent months regarding the distribution of women's nude photos on Telegram. The investigation began following a complaint from an organization that discovered trafficking of women's photos taking place on the platform. The women were horrified to find that their photos were being traded online.
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As part of the investigation, the cybercrime unit investigators in the Northern District identified the suspect—a 16-year-old resident of northern Israel—who allegedly created a Telegram group where he traded the photos. He reportedly charged between $52 and $210 from each user. Using this method, the suspect is believed to have fraudulently obtained tens of thousands of dollars from dozens of users.
On Sunday morning, after the investigation became public, detectives raided the suspect's home, arrested him for questioning, and seized items and devices that the boy allegedly used in his operations.
Naama Feilchenfeld, director of the "Ma'at" organization for identifying sexual offenses online, stated: "The identification of the offender and the submission of the case were carried out by the Ma'at organization, which investigates sexual offenses online. This is part of a fruitful collaboration between the organization and the Israel Police, adding to the list of arrests we have contributed to in the field of distribution, leaks, and trafficking of prohibited sexual content. This is a pandemic that repeatedly makes headlines, and we welcome the arrest and the significant enforcement efforts."