MELBOURNE, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Australian police have arrested 35 men in two states following a major year-long covert investigation into an online child exploitation group.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the police force in the state of Victoria said in a joint statement on Sunday that the arrested men were charged with over 1,000 offenses following one of the most significant online child abuse investigations in Australia.
The covert investigation began late in 2023 and led to the infiltration of an online group using an encrypted messaging application to share text and image-based exploitation material and source children to sexually abuse.
Material that was shared in the group included images and videos depicting the abuse, torture and murder of infants and young children, police said.
The online group was shut down and 26 men from Victoria who were alleged members were arrested and charged with more than 1,000 criminal offenses relating to the possession, transmission and production of child abuse material.
Another nine alleged offenders were arrested in the neighboring east coast state of New South Wales.
Victoria Police Detective Superintendent Tim McKinney said that it is believed the offending depicted in the material occurred offshore, with no newly-generated material involving Australian children identified during the course of the investigation. ■