CANBERRA, ACT, March 8 -- Australian Federal Police issued the following media release:

This is a joint media release between the Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police

Editor's note:Television interviews+ infographics available via Hightail here.

Twenty-sixmembers of a secret online child exploitation group have been charged with more than 1000 offences afterone ofthemost significantonline child abuseinvestigationsin Australia.

A year-long covert investigation by the AFP and Victoria Policeunder the VictoriaJoint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (JACET) began in late 2023following intelligence shared by Queensland PoliceService. This led totheinfiltrationof an online groupusing an encrypted messaging application to sharebothabhorrent text and image-based material,and source children to sexually abuse.

Law enforcement can now reveal the details as investigations have concluded.

The online group was shutdownand 26 Victorian-basedallegedmembers were charged with more than 1000 offences, including the possession, access, transmission, solicitation, and production of child abuse material.

Many of the men charged have now been convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment, while othersremainbefore the courts.

Groupmembers shared collections of child abuse material andchild sexualabusefantasiesin the mistaken belief the app's encryption would shield them from detection.This includedimages andvideosdepicting thesexual abuse, torture and murder of infants and young children, as well as bestiality.

No newly generated material involving Australian children wasidentifiedduring the course ofthe investigation.

As a result oftheeffortstoidentifymembers of the group, who were believed to be based across Australia and overseas,AFP and Victoria PoliceJACETinvestigators executed 31 search warrants across Victoria and seized 100 electronic devices.About65,000uniquechild abuse images and videoswereidentifiedincludingmore than 300 hours of child abusevideos -the equivalent of about 175 feature films.

Nineteenreferralswere madeto domestic and international law enforcement agencies,whichresulted in the arrest ofnine further allegedoffendersby NSW PoliceForce.

A Melbourne man, 46, was charged with creating and administering a group on the encrypted messaging application for the sharing of child abuse material. He was sentenced to more than 12 years' imprisonmentby theMelbourne CountyCourt inSeptember,2024.

ACentral Victorianmanwas charged withmore than250offencesrelating to transmitting,accessing,producingandsolicitingchild abuse material through various individuals he met in the group.InDecember 2025,hewas sentenced tosixyears'imprisonment.

AFPDetective SuperintendentBernard Geasonsaid thechild abuse materialshared in the secretonlinechatgroupwas so abhorrent and extreme ithad rattled long-servingchild protection investigators.

"I am extremely proud of the persistence of the investigatorsinvolved in this extremely distressing investigation. I would like to thank themfortheir unwavering dedication toidentifyingtheallegedoffenders andstoppingfurther abuse. This is a hard reminder of how pervasive this crime can be,"DetSupt Geasonsaid.

"It is a sad reality where our society has many individuals who will exploit children for their own perverse desires.The contentsofthis chat group are among the worst of the worst.This investigation has stoppedpeople sharing violent abuse material and disrupted an online market of misery - but there is a tidal wave of this material on the internet and constant demands for more.

"Each of the men charged during this investigationlikely thoughtthey were cloaked and hidden behind layers of encryption. Let this be a reminder - law enforcement is everywhere. Our experts are among the best in the world at exposing and stopping anyone involved in the exploitation of children.

"The AFP and its partners will never stop trying to protect children, no matter where they live, from the scourge of exploitation and abuse."

Victoria Police Detective Superintendent Tim McKinney, Cybercrime Division,said the material shared between this groupwastrulyamongthe most depraved ever seen by law enforcement.

"Our investigators faced the distressing task of combing through 300+ hours of material," D/Supt McKinney said.

"There were also written conversations where these participants expressed their desire to find children and infants in real life.

"Though we believe the contact offending in this material occurred offshore, this investigation highlights that there are individuals living in our community who for unfathomable reasons want access to this material and by their interest feed its production and distribution.

"There are international law enforcement efforts toidentifythe creators and consumers of this material no matter where they may be.

"The majority of the 26 men charged in Victoria were not previously known to law enforcement. Without this covert operation, these men would not have been stopped, and they would not have been brought to justice.

"The harsh reality is that the prevalence of child abuse material in society is only growing, and there is no set idea of what an offender looks like. It can be anyone - a young person in their teens, someone who is married with a family, people in relationships.

"Our investigators will never stop; they will continue to work tirelessly to prevent children from further harm. Everything you do online leaves a footprint and is almost impossible to conceal. If you believe hiding behind a screen affords you anonymity, you are wrong. You can and very well should expect a knock on the door from law enforcement.

"Thismajor investigation involved AFP and Victoria Police members, from areas including investigations, covert operations, digital forensics and victim identification."

The AFP and Victoria Police havealsocontinued toassistglobal efforts toidentifychildren depicted in the videos and images by adding the material to the International Child Sexual Exploitation database. This will help the global victim-identification and international law enforcement community to piece together clues which couldidentifyvictims, theirlocationsand other offenders.



Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.