Greek police break child porn ring, 21 charged

Greek police broke a child pornography ring, believed to be part of a European network, and charged 21 people with possessing and trafficking hard-core material on the Internet, officials said.

Police said they had detained 13 men and were searching for the rest, who are aged between 25 and 50. They included a teacher, a doctor, a businessman, a therapist and a shepherd who had created a hi-tech Internet corner in his sheep-pen.

"These people are detained on charges of accessing, possessing and trafficking hard-core child pornographic material," a police official, who declined to be named, told Reuters. "Such a case is a first for Greece."

After a six-month, Europe-wide investigation, Greek authorities tracked the suspects down after being tipped off by Interpol, the official said. Operations are continuing in Italy, Germany and the Britain.

About 50 computer hard-drives were confiscated in the raids, the official told Reuters.

Greece's conservative government passed a law in 2007, which imposes heavy sentences -- up to life imprisonment - for crimes related to child pornography.