Further to the post immediately below:
Sixty-five Australians are among more than 300 people arrested after Canadian authorities smashed what they say is one of the worst child sex abuse rings they have seen.
Canadian police say their investigation into a multi-million-dollar child sex abuse video website has led to the arrests of nearly 350 people internationally, including teachers, police officers, doctors and priests.
A total of 386 victims of the ring were rescued from harm worldwide, including six in Australia - five in Western Australia, and one in the ACT.
"It is alleged that officers located hundreds of thousands of images detailing horrific acts against young children, some of the worst that they have ever viewed," Toronto police spokeswoman Joanna Beaven-Desjardins said.
The Australian suspects in the operation are aged between 25 and 72 and have been charged with a range of offences including accessing, possessing, producing and distributing online child exploitation material.
Breakdown of suspects by state:
Queensland 32
South Australia 12
New South Wales 9
Victoria 5
Western Australia 4
Australian Capital Territory 1
They include a Catholic priest, a former priest and two teachers, all from New South Wales. But Queensland is the state with the largest number of suspects, with 32 people facing charges.
The AFP's head of Cyber Crime Operations, Commander Glen McEwen, says more arrests are expected as investigations continue.
"As you'd appreciate there's a lot of forensic analysis that needs to be conducted in these types of investigations, and we are expecting more charges to be laid," he said.
Commander McEwen said every child exploitation image found in the operation was a crime scene.
"Every piece of material is child sexual abuse and those who seek to access, produce and deal in such images are just as complicit in that abuse as the persons orchestrating the production of such material.
Sixty-five Australians are among more than 300 people arrested after Canadian authorities smashed what they say is one of the worst child sex abuse rings they have seen.
Canadian police say their investigation into a multi-million-dollar child sex abuse video website has led to the arrests of nearly 350 people internationally, including teachers, police officers, doctors and priests.
A total of 386 victims of the ring were rescued from harm worldwide, including six in Australia - five in Western Australia, and one in the ACT.
"It is alleged that officers located hundreds of thousands of images detailing horrific acts against young children, some of the worst that they have ever viewed," Toronto police spokeswoman Joanna Beaven-Desjardins said.
The Australian suspects in the operation are aged between 25 and 72 and have been charged with a range of offences including accessing, possessing, producing and distributing online child exploitation material.
Breakdown of suspects by state: Queensland 32
South Australia 12
New South Wales 9
Victoria 5
Western Australia 4
Australian Capital Territory 1
They include a Catholic priest, a former priest and two teachers, all from New South Wales. But Queensland is the state with the largest number of suspects, with 32 people facing charges.
The AFP's head of Cyber Crime Operations, Commander Glen McEwen, says more arrests are expected as investigations continue.
"As you'd appreciate there's a lot of forensic analysis that needs to be conducted in these types of investigations, and we are expecting more charges to be laid," he said.
Commander McEwen said every child exploitation image found in the operation was a crime scene.
"Every piece of material is child sexual abuse and those who seek to access, produce and deal in such images are just as complicit in that abuse as the persons orchestrating the production of such material.
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