INTERPOL and its member countries have begun following up on a number of leads received from police officers and the public in response to its international appeal for assistance in identifying a man photographed sexually abusing young boys in a series of Internet photos.
More than 200 responses from around the world have been received by INTERPOL’s General Secretariat offering information such as photographs, names and locations which could be of interest to the INTERPOL team working on Operation Vico. In addition, INTERPOL member countries are continuing to receive leads at the national level.
This extraordinary appeal has attracted worldwide attention with millions of hits on INTERPOL’s website on Monday - 20 times more than the average daily audience for the website.
Although there is great public interest on knowing the man’s potential location, this is part of an ongoing police investigation and INTERPOL cannot comment on details of any information received.
INTERPOL’s specialised police officers are reviewing the information, and where appropriate will direct it to the relevant INTERPOL National Central Bureau or police experts specializing in crimes against children in the country or countries identified.
“The public’s response has been very positive, and we have also had encouraging feedback from local and national law enforcement officers to our appeal,” said Kristin Kvigne, Assistant Director of INTERPOL’s Trafficking in Human Being unit, which manages Operation Vico.
“Our specialist officers here in Lyon, our National Central Bureaus and the wider law enforcement community have received hundreds of emails from people wanting to assist with the investigation. All the information provided is being carefully assessed and analysed to ensure that any investigative lead can be properly followed.”
No further investigative information will be released by the INTERPOL General Secretariat unless there is a breakthrough in identifying this person.