TRANSCRIPT
The Australian arm of an elaborate online child abuse network has been exposed by the Australian Federal Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
19 alleged paedophiles have been charged and 13 children from across the country have been rescued from further harm.
AFP Commander Helen Schneider says information provided by the FBI led to the investigation.
"Operation Bakis kicked off in 2022 as a result of information that was provided by the FBI to the ACCCE in relation to Australian members of a peer to peer network, allegedly, sharing child abuse material online. This has been a complex investigation. Members of this network were using encryption, and other methods to avoid law enforcement detection, whilst they were sharing videos and files of child abuse material."
Operation Bakis is AFP-led and Australian Centre To Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE} coordinated in Australia which worked with police forces around the country.
The investigation comes following a fatal shootout with an American paedophile that claimed the lives of two FBI agents.
The Special Agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger were shot dead by suspect David Lee Huber outside an apartment in Sunrise, Florida as they executed a search warrant in 2021.
Huber, who was being sought in relation to distribution of child sexual abuse material, shot himself after killing the agents.
Investigation continued in following the incident, and the FBI discovered Huber was part of a child abuse network that investigators now say stretched to Australia.
Globally, 79 people have now been arrested for their alleged involvement in the online network, based on more than 211 international lead packages.
AFP Commander Schneider says further arrests are imminent and the 19 men arrested in Australian have been charged with a total of 138 offences.
“Whilst many of these men have stood before the court process. I can advise the two of them have been sentenced to jail, one in the ACT for just under 15 years and one in New South Wales for five years. Viewing, distributing and producing child abuse material is a horrific crime and the lengths that this network went to, to avoid detection is an indication of just how dangerous they were. The longer people like this, avoid detection. It means the longer the cycle of abuse continues.“
Ms Schneider adds that some of the offenders have potentially been committing the offences for over 10 years.
She adds that most of the accused were employed in occupations that required a high degree of knowledge of information and communications technology.
Two offenders have been sentenced; other alleged offenders are before the courts.
It will be alleged some of the children removed had been directly abused, others were removed as a child safety precaution.
Of the 13 children removed from harm, four were rescued from Queensland, four across New South Wales and South Australia, and five children in the ACT.
Leesa Waters of the National Association for Prevention of Child abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) says everyone working with children or have children in their care should be aware of indicators of paedophilia in young people and how to manage it.
Ms Waters adds that a working with children’s check is not enough safety net for children.
“We really need to shift from a focus on protecting children after the abuse has occurred, to preventing it before the abuse has occurred. We know that from the Royal Commission that a lot of children actually did speak up, but their voices weren't believed so one of the things that we really need to do is value the voices of children when they're speaking in this space, and make sure that they know that they'll be heard and that their safety concerns will be acted on.”
Maree Walk, Chief Executive of The Association of Child Welfare Agencies (ACWA) says although screening of people working with children is not enough, it is an important start to ensuring that a baseline requirement of a criminal clearance is met.
Research conducted by the ACCCE in 2020 reveals only about half of parents talked to their children about online safety.
Ms Walk advices parents to be more vigilant by monitoring their children's devices as many children are groomed over the internet.
“The first thing I would always say is really listen to what the behaviour is telling you, as well as the words of a child. And always ask big open questions. What's happening to you these days? Those kinds of questions, big open questions, and watch for changes in behaviour. And of course, the really basic thing for children, you know, not the very little children, that is have a look at what they're doing on the internet, really, really do that.”
Legal Attaché Nitiana Mann of the FBI believes that the success of the ongoing investigation is due to the synergy between the FBI and the AFP.
“Today we celebrate the rescue of 13 children. The success of this operation is only possible because of the close partnership between the FBI, the Australian law enforcement community to include the state and territory officers who participated in this operation. I want to say a special thank you to the ACCCE community for the men and women who dedicate their lives to protecting our children. Thank you.”
Commander Schneider, in agreement, says the discovery of the paedophile ring is a positive development towards eradicating child abuse in Australia.
“We would consider this a very significant outcome, in terms of the fact that the ACCCE was able to coordinate across Australia, this outcome with our state and territory partners. And it really demonstrates I think, the commitment and connection we have across the country and how we can connect in internationally. We see it as a significant outcome. And I think that this outcome should definitely serve as a warning to those who are preying on our most vulnerable, that we are looking for you we will find you and we will arrest”
If you or someone you know is impacted by child sexual abuse and online exploitation, support services are available on the ACCCE website.
