A Central Coast man is among 19 Australians who have been charged after a sophisticated online child abuse network was uncovered following the shooting of two FBI agents in the USA.
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Operation Bakis was a joint investigation involving the Australian Federal Police and state and territory police, which had its origins in the murder of two FBI agents in Florida in 2021. Thirteen Australian children have been removed from harm as part of the operation.
The AFP-coordinated investigation began in 2022 when the FBI provided the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation with intelligence about Australian members of a peer-to-peer network allegedly sharing child abuse material on the dark web.
Two Australian offenders have been sentenced, with others remaining before the courts.
In NSW, two children have been removed from harm and five alleged offenders are facing 13 charges.
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A Central Coast call centre operator was sentenced in June to five years in jail after he pleaded guilty to possessing an estimated five terabytes worth of child abuse material.
Most of the alleged Australian offenders, some of whom are also accused of having produced their own child abuse material to share with other members of the network, were employed in occupations that required a high degree of information technology knowledge.
Members used software to anonymously share files, chat on message boards and access websites within the network.
Network members were able to search for and distribute images and videos of child abuse material and allegedly used encryption and other methods to avoid law enforcement detection.
The alleged Australian offenders were aged between 32 and 81 years old.
It will be alleged some of the children removed had been directly abused, while others were removed as a child safety precaution.
The related FBI investigation has led to 79 people being arrested for their alleged involvement in the network.
FBI Special Agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger were shot dead by an offender when they executed a search warrant as part of a related investigation. After their murder the FBI commenced an international operation targeting offenders on the platform.
AFP commander Helen Schneider said removing children from harm and bringing alleged offenders before the courts was always a priority for law enforcement.
"The success of Operation Bakis was only possible because of the close working relationship between the AFP-led ACCCE and the FBI, and our dedicated personnel who never give up working to identify children who are being sexually assaulted or living with someone who is sharing child abuse material," she said.
"Criminals using encryption and the dark web are a challenge for law enforcement, but Operation Bakis shows that when we work together we can bring alleged offenders before the courts.
"Viewing, distributing or producing child abuse material is a horrific crime, and the lengths that these alleged offenders went to in order to avoid detection makes them especially dangerous - the longer they avoid detection the longer they can perpetuate the cycle of abuse."
FBI Legal Attaché Nitiana Mann said: "We are proud of our longstanding relationship with the Australian Federal Police resulting in 19 Australian men facing criminal prosecution as a result of our collaborative investigation".
"The complexity and anonymity of these platforms means that no agency or country can fight these threats alone," she said.
"As we continue to build bridges through collaboration and teamwork, we can ensure the good guys win and the bad guys lose."
NSW Police Detective Superintendent Linda Howlett said the State Crime Command's Child Abuse Squad detectives never stopped in their pursuit of those who targeted the community's most vulnerable.
"If you choose to offend against children, it is only a matter of time before police come knocking on your door," she said.
"Together with our law enforcement counterparts, we will continue to use every power available to us to put those targeting children behind bars."
