Greek police break child porn ring

The abbot of a monastery was among 11 people arrested today when Greek police broke up a suspected child pornography ring forming part of a European network, officials said.

Police charged a further 13 people with possessing and trafficking pornography on the Internet and were searching for more than 130 other suspects.

Those arrested included the abbot of a monastery near the town of Sparta in the Peloponnese, two doctors and an army officer, police said.

In Greece, suspects can only be automatically arrested within 24 hours of committing a crime.

"The accused purchased access to Internet sites containing illegal pictures and video images using their credit cards," said a police official, who declined to be named. "We're having a problem finding them as some used Internet cafes."

Police raided suspects' houses and confiscated around 30 hard-drives, lap top computers and hundreds of DVD's containing pictures of children as young as 4-months-old, officials said.

Greek authorities tracked down the suspects after being tipped off by British police.

Last year, Greece charged 21 people in a separate porn bust.

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