Operation Molto officers execute a search warrant in Tasmania.
Forty-four men are facing 350 charges of possessing child exploitation material and 16 children have been removed from harm after a nationwide sting involving hundreds of police across Australia.
Operation Molto, coordinated by the Australian Federal Police-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE), identified alleged offenders in every Australian state, and the ACT.
The year-long operation started when the ACCCE received an intelligence report showing thousands of offenders were using a cloud storage platform to share child material abuse online.
Some of the alleged offenders, who are also accused of producing their own child abuse material online, were allegedly in possession of material that was produced by a man arrested by the AFP in 2015 under Operation Niro, which resulted in the dismantling of an international organised paedophile syndicate. At the time, the material was classified by police as the most abhorrent ever produced.
The alleged offenders are aged between 19 and 57 years old.
Eleven alleged offenders in Victoria are facing 105 charges. Six children have been removed from harm in that state.
Eight alleged offenders in NSW are facing 49 charges. One child has been removed from harm in that state.
Eleven alleged offenders in Queensland are facing 114 charges. Two children have been removed from harm in that state.
Nine alleged offenders in South Australia are facing 67 charges. Six children have been removed from harm in that state.
Two alleged offenders in Western Australia are facing seven charges, with no children having to be removed from harm in that state.
Police say the alleged offenders were also employed in range of occupations, including construction, transport, law enforcement and hospitality.
Molto, an ongoing investigation, has been supported by hundreds of police and specialists across Australia. It has also received assistance from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and AUSTRAC.
AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said while the hard-work, diligence and co-operation of police should be recognised, victims remained front of mind for law enforcement agencies.
“Arresting offenders and putting them before the court is only half the battle,’’ Commissioner Kershaw said.
“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.
“Viewing, distributing or producing child exploitation material is a crime. Children are not commodities and the AFP and its partner agencies work around-the-clock to identify and prosecute offenders.”
As a result of AFP investigations there were 134 children who were removed from harm, 67 domestically and 67 internationally, from July 2019 to June 2020.
In the past 12 months alone, the ACCCE has intercepted and examined more than 250,000 child abuse material files. Of these, 44 referrals were made to ACCCE’s victim identification team, making up more than 4000 images and 2200 videos.
The ACCCE’s victim identification team has also sent 49 referrals relating to victims of child abuse to 20 countries in the past 12 months.
The ACCCE is committed to stopping child exploitation and abuse and is at the centre of a collaborative national approach to combatting organised child abuse.
The Centre brings together specialist expertise and skills in a central hub, supporting investigations into child sexual abuse and developing prevention strategies focused on creating a safer online environment.
Members of the public who have any information about people involved in child abuse and exploitation are urged to call Crime stoppers on 1800 333 000.
