11 detained for child trafficking, child pornography, including school teacher

Police have detained 11 more individuals for child trafficking and child pornography, including parents and one school teacher, the Ministry of Internal Affair reports.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs says that 10 underage girls aged 8-14 have been forced to be involved in the illegal activity by their parents and others.

A citizen of the US and Australia had a photo salon in a rented apartment in Tbilisi, where they were making children pornography (photo and video materials) to sell abroad.

The school teacher was actively involved in the selection of children and was assisting the US citizen, who was detained in September of 2019 in connection with this criminal case.

The crime is punishable from 17 to 20 years in prison or life imprisonment.

11 individuals were detained in September 2019 in connection with this criminal case in a joint operation of Georgian, US, Australian law enforcers and Europol.

One American and one Australian citizen were among the detainees, while others were citizens of Georgia, mostly parents and relatives of the affected underage girls.

The affected children will be provided with psychological and social help, says the Ministry of Internal Affairs.