About 30 individuals suspected of pedophilia were arrested overnight Tuesday, the result of a police operation in which an undercover female officer assumed the identity of a 12-year-old-girl.

During the operation, called “computerized interception,” a large police contingent stormed the houses of suspects all over the country, from Be’er Sheva in the south, to Kiryat Shemona in the north. The suspects will be brought to the magistrate’s court in Ramle, to await further proceedings.

In most cases, the suspects initiated meetings with the undercover police officer, and some of the suspects arrived for those meetings with contraceptive devices. Three suspects were immediately brought into custody, as investigators determined that they were liable to harm children as the investigation progresses. Investigators were able to document some of the suspects performing indecent acts in front of webcams.

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The suspects arrested range in age from 35 to 56, and include academics, security personnel, as married men, with children. According to investigators, suspects are generally educated, with no criminal background.

The operation was launched roughly three months ago, as a man suspected of distributing pedophilic materials was arrested by the Central District’s fraud unit. Police suspected the man arrested was in possession of “relatively low-level material” – for instance, there were no nude photos among the materials.

For more, go to Haaretz.com

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