190 Arrested in Australia Child Porn Raids

01/10/2004| IslamWeb

Australian police have arrested more than 190 people and expect to charge hundreds more in a massive nationwide crackdown on Internet child pornography linked to organised crime in eastern Europe, officials announced yesterday. Those charged after raids this week on more than 400 premises include policemen, doctors, armed forces members, government officials and an owner of three child care centres, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said. Hundreds of computers containing more than two million images, some of children as young as two, were seized in the raids that hit suspects in every one of Australia's eight states and territories, officials said. Some 380 computers were seized. Some 2,000 charges had already been laid for offences including child sex tourism, sexual abuse and possession or distribution of pornographic images of children, Justice Minister Chris Ellison said. Ellison said hundreds more arrests were expected as the operation continues. "Many of these images have originated overseas and it is alleged police have also located photographs of children being abused by offenders here in Australia," Ellison said. Ellison said local police found some libraries of child pornographic material dating back 20 years and photographic studios set up in suburban homes. Police in the eastern city of Brisbane said they had rescued seven children aged five to 13 who had been systematically abused by one man arrested as part of the crackdown. The head of Queensland state's anti-paedophile police group, Brian Huxley, said the children had been identified through pictures found on a computer in the man's home. Others charged so far include several police officers, two teachers, an assistant to a Western Australia state member of parliament and the owner of three child care centres in Melbourne, officials said. This week's raids, codenamed Operation Auxin, capped a five-month investigation prompted by a tip-off from a customs taskforce in the US. The child porn network involved 20 pay-to-view websites originating in eastern Europe and run by organised crime groups, said Mike Phelan, head of the AFP's High Tech Crime Centre. **PHOTO CAPTION*** The operations is targeting total of 700 suspects. (AFP)