Kevin Zuccato, acting national manager of the AFP's High-Tech Crime Operations, says extremely young children were caught in the net of abuse. Pic: Chris Hyde
DETECTIVES have smashed a nationwide child pornography ring that allegedly included a former police officer and a trainee teacher.
In a series of co-ordinated raids at homes across NSW and Victoria on Saturday night, police seized thousands of photographs of young children and arrested six men. The men were subsequently charged with a range of offences relating to the alleged production and distribution of child pornography and alleged grooming of children for future abuse.
Police believe the group was part of an international network and are confident the 11-month investigation will lead to arrests overseas. "We're talking about infant children - extremely young children - all the way up to 16-year-old boys and girls that were abused," said Kevin Zuccato, acting national manager of the AFP's High-Tech Crime Operations.
The arrests came after police used false identities to make contact with the alleged gang on the internet and monitor their activities. "We've demonstrated over the last couple of days that we can gain their trust, we can infiltrate their networks and we can take them down," Mr Zuccato said.
FBI agents as well as British police worked closely with 69 officers from the AFP and the NSW and Queensland forces.
"The offenders that were arrested came from all walks of life, including those in positions of trust," NSW Police Child Protection and Sex Crimes Squad Commander Helen Begg said. Among those arrested were a former police officer, a trainee teacher and a swimming instructor, as well as a truck driver, she said.
Four men from NSW and one from Melbourne were charged with offences relating to child pornography, and a 31-year-old Sydney man was charged with drug-related offences. A 17-year-old man was arrested in Queensland in August and charged with child pornography offences.
"We've made a significant inroads into child predators," Superintendent Begg said. "We definitely believe we've dismantled this network." She said police found some of the seized material very disturbing.
NSW Police Minister David Campbell said the ring was "a disgrace". "These are vile individuals who would peddle in this type of material and groom young children and take advantage of them," he said.
Original Article-
More on this subject-
Men refused bail over alleged child porn ring
Five men have faced court today on child pornography offences after police made a string of arrests across three states at the weekend.
Four men faced court in country New South Wales, while a fifth faced court in Victoria.
Twenty-two-year-old Matthew Demartin of Griffith, who is already in protective custody, faced the Wagga Wagga Local Court, which heard he was about to start teaching at a local school.
Others who faced court included a 38-year-old former police officer from South West Rocks on the New South Wales mid north coast, a 29-year-old truck driver from Coonabarabran and an unemployed man from Orange.
All four were refused bail as was Phillip Alan Reid from Malvern in Victoria.
Police arrested and charged seven men across three states over the weekend, alleging they are involved in an international child pornography ring.
Original Article -
And More -
Child porn ring accused front court
An unemployed man and a 22-year-old who was about to take up a primary school teaching position have faced court over an alleged child pornography ring spanning three states.
Police allege the syndicate targeted children in Australia and overseas, and included a former policeman, a swimming instructor and a teenager.
Four men from regional New South Wales and two from Victoria were arrested yesterday and charged over their alleged roles in the ring.
The charges include making and distributing child porn, grooming a child and predatory behaviour targeting young victims.
A 17-year-old Queensland boy was also charged with using a carriage service for child porn, following an 11-month investigation.
Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said this morning the ring had links to the United States and Britain, and arrests were expected overseas.
Appearances
Trainee teacher Matthew DeMartin appeared in Wagga Wagga Local Court, in southern NSW, via video link this morning.
The 22-year-old is in protective custody at Junee jail, charged with distributing, possessing and producing child porn.
The court heard he had just finished his teaching degree and was about to take up a position at Henwood Public School, near Griffith.
Another man, 51-year-old David Bruce Elliot, has appeared handcuffed in court in Orange, in central-western NSW, on 12 child pornography possession and distribution charges.
The unemployed man, who was one of the focuses of the police operation, will spend Christmas in jail after he was formally refused bail.
The matter has been adjourned until late January, when he was already due to face other charges.
Ex-cop
Former policeman Gregory John Minehan, from South West Rocks on the NSW Mid-North Coast, was the other focus of the investigation.
He is expected to appear in the Port Macquarie Local Court shortly on 26 child pornography charges.
They include 14 for the use of a carriage service to transmit child porn, one of grooming a child aged under 16 and one of producing child porn.
Another three men arrested over the child pornography ring are due to make their second court appearances today in Melbourne and the NSW town of Tamworth.
In a separate case, 43-year-old Port Macquarie man Glen Hitchen was granted bail in Port Macquarie Local Court this morning.
Hitchen faced child pornography charges earlier this month after the Australian Federal Police received a tip-off from the FBI.
He will appear in Port Macquarie Local Court again on February 21.
Original Article-
No comments:
Post a Comment