Pornography raids net hundreds
Date: October 01, 2004Source: CNN.com
State and federal police have issued about 400 search warrants so far in the biggest crackdown on child porn in Australia.
Those detained Thursday include police officers, teachers, doctors, and the owner of a chain of Melbourne child care centers, local media reports said.
Among the 2000 offences they face are charges of rape, sexual assault, the organizing of sex tourism, and the downloading, possessing or distribution of child pornography.
Over the past six days police have uncovered what appears to be child porn photographic studios hidden within suburban homes, as well as libraries involving hundreds of thousands of images dating back more than two decades, the Australian Federal Police said.
Police in all Australian states and territories seized computer hard drives, boxes of images, cameras and other equipment.
Some of the images are of children as young as two years old.
The operation, codenamed Auxin, began in March this year and was coordinated by the Australian High Tech Crime Center (AHTCC).
The center was set up to investigate Internet based crime and involves a coordinated effort by Australian state and federal police.
AHTCC director Mike Phelan said the scale of the operation painted a "worrying picture" about the extent and spread of online child pornography.
But he said police were confident their action this week would have a strong deterrent effect.
He said it was also a timely reminder to parents to educate themselves and their children about the risk of online exploitation.
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