She called herself “The Goddess”. Behind that pseudonym hides “an Instagram user” whose purpose was to “capture minors” on the social network, “trick” them into doing “direct” via WhatsApp “with men performing sexual acts.” “The Goddess”, as it was verified, was in truth a man who profited by charging clients for illicit intermediation. Although he paid a percentage to young people, he even “threatened” them when they showed doubts about whether to continue with pornographic activity.
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This story has been revealed by the Prosecutor’s Office in its annual report, presented this week after the opening of the judicial year. The public prosecutor’s office explains that there have been proceedings open since 2020 in Donostia’s Investigating Court 5, but points out that the people identified in this plot were from “different Spanish provinces” and that the collaboration of more than one body of law enforcement has been necessary. Police, who have been in charge of analyzing the mobile and computer equipment of those involved. “The investigation has been advancing little by little, given the difficulties of identifying criminals on the network and the delay that this entails due to the need for the collaboration of foreign companies (Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, …), although one has already been identified. person as the possible perpetrator of the events, as well as various buyers of the direct referrals, ”reports the prosecutor’s office.
The Prosecutor’s Office highlights that “Instagram continues to be the social network most used by young people, together with Tik-Tok” and that, particularly since confinement, crimes committed by computer means have skyrocketed. In fact, he points out that there have already been two similar cases in Euskadi. The first, also in Gipuzkoa, was opened in 2019 and resolved in 2021 with a conviction. On that occasion, “through these applications, the criminals gained the trust of the minors and managed to get them to send them photos or videos of sexual content or manage to make video calls with them in which they perform sexual acts.” Even “in the worst scenarios” they came to “convince minors to see each other in person and sexually abuse them”, can be read in the memory.
The second case is from Vitoria, and it was found that a 21-year-old man used Instagram to contact three minor women, the youngest being 13 years old. “Once the accused was added to the Instagram social network profiles of the minors, with full knowledge of their minority, he engaged in private conversations with each of them in which the accused requested meetings to have sexual relations in exchange for money and had sexualized conversations with them. The minors, in this case, did not come to attend the meetings proposed by the accused, ”explains the Prosecutor’s Office. The accused was sentenced to one year and four months in prison – a sentence that was suspended in exchange for taking a sex education course – and a fine of less than 1,000 euros, although he also received “special disqualification from exercising any profession or trade”. , whether or not paid, that involves regular and direct contact with minors”.
The public ministry believes that “one way to fight against this type of crime and prevent the typical behaviors outlined could consist of training vulnerable groups in these matters from schools, institutes, the family, public institutions, etc.” He reasons that not only are there risks of sexual crimes, but there are episodes of ‘bullying’ aggravated by the abusive use of social networks and, among adults, economic scams have proliferated.
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