Police have made the first arrest in the investigation into online groups trading photographs of women and children, detaining a 21-year-old man in Beliatta, and have published dedicated email addresses for the public to report such groups.

The suspect is accused of operating Facebook groups in which photographs of women and children were shared in an obscene manner, NewsFirst reported. The arrest was made by officers of the Bureau for the Prevention of Abuse of Children and Women.

Police seized the suspect’s mobile phone. Digital forensic examinations are under way to establish the extent of the activity, identify possible accomplices and trace other platforms or users linked to the operation.

Two reporting addresses

The Computer Crime Investigation Division has begun identifying Facebook accounts and groups involved and is moving to disable them while pursuing criminal investigations against their operators.

Two channels have been opened. Complaints about nude photographs, intimate images and other content infringing personal privacy go to [email protected]. Requests to remove content causing distress or reputational harm go to [email protected]. The division can also be reached on 011 2381058.

AI-generated material named

Police described the material in circulation as including photographs, manipulated images and AI-generated videos promoting the exploitation of women and children — the first time artificial intelligence has been named explicitly in this investigation. NewsFirst said the trend has become more common in recent months, particularly through Facebook groups.

The ministry’s referral

Separately on Friday, the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs restated that groups on Facebook and other platforms are being used to trade sexual videos and private photographs of women and children, the Daily Mirror reported. It said fake accounts were being used to sell images of people known to the operators, in some cases female members of their own families, and that many groups are run from overseas.

That account matches the referral the ministry made to two police units on Thursday, which SLCERT escalated to Meta. Friday’s arrest is the first enforcement action reported since.

Assistance is available on the 1938 and 1929 toll-free helplines.

Update: suspect granted bail, court told the account ran two years

The suspect was produced in court on Friday and released on two personal bail bonds of Rs. 1 million each by Colombo Additional Magistrate Oshada Migara Maharachchi, Hiru News reported.

Making submissions to court, Chief Inspector Nimali Sharomali, the officer in charge of the Children and Women’s Bureau, and other officers said the suspect had used social media for two years to sell obscene photographs of women and children for money. The bureau told the court the account had accumulated more than 8,000 followers.

The two-year timeframe and the sale of images for money go further than the police account given at the time of the arrest, which described photographs being shared rather than sold.

Hiru gave the suspect’s age as 22, while NewsFirst gave 21 at the time of the arrest. Neither outlet named him, and no outlet has stated explicitly whether this arrest arises from the Women and Child Affairs Ministry’s referral, though both were handled by the same police bureau.

Sources