Australia: 44 held over suspicion of producing child abuse material, 12 children rescued

Australian Federal Police (AFP) have arrested 44 people from across the nation for allegedly possessing and producing child exploitation materials. The arrests were made following the year-long criminal investigation, Operation Molto, that was being carried out by the Australian police in coordination with the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE). The nationwide investigation started after ACCCE was referred to a law enforcement report showing thousands of offenders were using a cloud storage platform to share child abuse materials online. 

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The Australian Federal Police in a press release informed that in 2015 they arrested a man under Operation Niro, who informed them about some of the alleged offenders who were in possession of materials produced by him. According to AFP, the alleged offenders are aged between 19 to 57 years and are scattered across the Australian States such as Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales. 

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'Victim identification underway' 

"Arresting offenders and putting them before the court is only half the battle. Identifying victims is a race against time and the ACCCE’s victim identification team is relentless in rescuing children from sexual abuse. Pixel by pixel, our investigators painstakingly look for clues and never give up and the tools they use give Australian police access to world-leading expertise," AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said about the investigation. 

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According to AFP, during the course of the investigation around 134 children were removed from harm. The 44 men who have been arrested are facing 350 charges, of which 11 are from Victoria, 11 from Queensland, eight from NSW, nine from South Australia, and two from Western Australia. "The alleged offenders were also employed in a range of occupations, including construction, transport, law enforcement, and hospitality," the release said. 

Operation Molto is still an ongoing investigation and is supported by hundreds of police and specialists across Australia. It has also received assistance from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).

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(Image Credit: @AusFedPolice/Twitter)