More than 500 Australians in child porn inquiry

Fri 1 October, 2004 09:40

SYDNEY (Reuters) - More than 500 Australians could be involved in
child pornography on the Internet, Australia's top police officer says
after nationwide raids saw more than 200 people charged with over
2,000 child pornography offences.

"This operation has provided us information in the order of in excess
of 500 Australians accessing the material," said Australian Federal
Police Commissioner Mick Keelty on Friday.

A tip-off to U.S. customs about child pornography on the Internet
produced 95,000 leads worldwide at the start of this year, Keelty said.

Australian police have yet to examine 400 computers and other material
seized in 400 raids over the past week.

"It's almost certain that there will be further arrests," Keelty told
Australian radio. More raids are expected on Friday.

Those arrested on Thursday included police officers, teachers and a
child-care centre owner. They face a range of charges from sexual
abuse, to downloading and distributing child pornography images to
child sex tourism.

Keelty said a worldwide child Internet pornography crackdown began
when U.S. authorities, mainly the U.S. Customs Service, called a
meeting with Interpol in February and revealed Internet child
pornography mainly from Belarus in eastern Europe.

Keelty said the operation highlighted the involvement of Russian
organised crime in child pornography on the Internet.

U.S. investigators provided Australian police with credit card details
of those purchasing child pornography on the Internet.

"We were able to give them names, which was the most important thing,
addresses, locations, credit card information and then what exactly
these people actually downloaded," U.S. customs agent Kyle Hutchins
told Australian radio on Friday.

"We were able to give them on a disc, per person, what exactly they
downloaded from this company -- was it a 5-year-old, was it a
10-year-old, was it a girl, was it a boy," she said.

"Basically everything that they need is on that disc and they have to
take it to the local prosecutor to determine whether it meets their
requirements for a prosecution."

Hutchins said U.S. authorities did not have the resources to
investigate all the 95,000 child Internet pornography leads, so police
were focusing on people who were in contact with children.

"It comes down to being able to prioritise which ones you go after --
those who have access to children -- police officers, clergy, school
teachers, doctors," Hutchins said.

"So that's what we have to do. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
We're finding more and more each day," she said.

Australian police said some people arrested had child pornography
libraries with in excess of 250,000 images collected over three
decades, and what appeared to be home studios designed to produce
child pornography.

Prime Minister John Howard expressed shock on Friday at the extent of
child Internet pornography in Australia.

"The thing that perhaps shocks me most of all is the way in which it
has spread across different sections of the community," Howard told
reporters.

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