Facebook tip-off leads to Turkish man's arrest in paedophile raid

ISTANBUL

A Turkish man suspected of sexually abusing several children after he trapped them with a fake Facebook profile has reportedly been detained, thanks to a tip-off from the social media platform's headquarters in the U.S.

A man posed as a 12-year-girl in a Facebook profile to lure victims, daily Habertürk reported on Dec. 13. He was identified as a 25-year-old construction worker by Turkish law enforcement officials, after Facebook informed the Anti-Cyber Crime Unit of the Istanbul Police Department regarding the suspicious activity of the fake account.

Turkish police raided the suspect's home after its address in Istanbul's Kadıköy neighborhood was identified through the IP number of his computer. More than 2,000 pornographic videos of child victims were reportedly found in the computer that was seized in the raid.

According to officials, the man is accused of trapping at least eight girls, aged between 10 and 15 years old. The suspect is accused of filming his victims nude to blackmail and then sexually abuse them.