.png)
Maltese, Italian police widen paedophile investigations to Switzerland
Joint investigations between Maltese and Italian police into a criminal racket involving sexual abuse of migrant children in Malta by two Italian men, have led to the discovery of a server in Switzerland, reportedly containing 11,000 pictures and films.
3 August 2010, 12:00am
Karl Stagno-Navarra
Karl Stagno-Navarra
1 min read
The investigation, initiated by Magistrates in Syracuse on July 20, led to the arrest of Mauro Ravagnan, a 63 year-old former teacher from Chioggia and accountant Mauro Lazzerini, 53 from Prato.
Both were arrested and charged with running an internation paedophile network, by setting up an internet site where they would place footage and photographs of children they abused in Malta, Tunisia and Romania.
According to investigators, Lazzerini and Ravagnan preyed on migrant children in Malta by luring them into performing lewd acts after showering them with gifts like shoes, clothes, mobile phone top-up cards and sweets.
The Maltese police have stepped up their investigations after receiving information from their Italian colleagues and have agreed to further their investigations in Switzerland where the server was discovered with the assistance of the Canton Ticino police.
More than 166 financial transactions have been intercepted through the illegal website, and Interpol have issued arrest warrants for users in France, Switzerland, Holland, United Kingdom, Belgium and Denmark.
