A police commander has refused to rule out further arrests after 13 Australian children were saved from a global paedophile ring.
An extraordinary cross-border investigation, involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States, led to 19 Australian men being charged.
Two have already been convicted, while 17 are facing court.
But the Australian Federal Police are not ruling out further arrests.
‘While we have charged 19 people, the AFP and our partners do not rule out further arrests in relation to this matter,’ Commander Helen Schneider told a press conference on Tuesday.
AFP Commander Helen Schneider (pictured) has refused to rule out further arrests after 19 Australian men were charged and 13 children saved following a bust of a global paedophile ring
One of 19 Australian men charged in connection with a global paedophile ring is pictured
She added: ‘The longer people like this avoid detection, the longer the cycle of abuse continues.’
‘This was a sophisticated network.’
Commander Schneider said that some of the child victims were known to the alleged offenders.
‘We will allege that some of the children were known to the men who were arrested but I will not comment any further in relation to the victims,’ she said.
AFP Commander Schneider said most of the individuals arrested were experienced in information and communications technology (ICT), making their ‘sophisticated network’ harder to track down.
‘I can advise that the majority of these individuals were experienced in ICT or in current ICT roles, so a high level of technical competency,’ she said.
‘They were an online peer-to-peer network and some of those had dark web capabilities and encryption.
Nitiana Mann, legal attaché for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States (pictured), said: ‘Today, we celebrate the rescue of 13 children’
‘It was those aspects that made this group challenging to target.’
Nitiana Mann, legal attaché for the FBI who also appeared at the press conference, said the investigation was only possible through the close partnership between the FBI and the Australian law enforcement community.
‘Today, we celebrate the rescue of 13 children,’ she said.
The extraordinary cross-border investigation was set in motion when two FBI agents were shot dead on the doorstep of a Florida apartment in February 2021.
Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger were preparing to execute a search warrant for child abuse material at the home of reclusive IT worker David Lee Huber, 55, when he opened fire, wounding three other agents before turning the gun on himself.
Subsequent inquiries uncovered that Huber was part of a sick network of child predators with links to Australia – with many members found to have professional IT or specialist computing skills to avoid detection.
After being tipped off, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) partnered with the American law agency to close down the ring under the codename Operation Bakis.
‘Two Australian offenders have been sentenced with others remaining before the courts,’ the AFP said in a statement on Monday.
‘A public servant living in the ACT was sentenced in June 2023 to 14 years and six months jail after pleading guilty to 24 charges in the ACT Supreme Court.’
FBI agent Laura Schwartzenberger was gunned down by Florida computer programmer David Lee Huber as she attempted to search his property in connection with the paedophile ring
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FBI agent Daniel Alfin was also killed by Lee Huber in a tragic loss of life that moved US President Joe Biden to send his condolences to the families
The statement did not reveal the sentence handed down to the other offender.
Two other men face 54 charges in the ACT where five children were removed from harm.
In NSW, two children were saved and five alleged offenders will face 13 charges.
Four children were removed from harm in Queensland with five offenders facing 45 charges.
In South Australia, two children were rescued and five alleged offenders face 16 charges.
One alleged offender is facing five charges in Tasmania as is one in Western Australia.
It will be alleged some Australian children had been directly abused and others relocated as a precautionary measure.
Computer equipment was seized by police with the AFP saying most of the Australian men charged had hi-tech jobs in communications or IT
Two of the phones seized by the AFP in connection with the paedophile ring, which so far has seen two men sentenced
The AFP said most of the Australian men arrested were employed in IT or communications occupations and the ages of the 16 ranged from 32 to 81.
‘Members used software to anonymously share files, chat on message boards and access websites within the network,’ the AFP statement said.
Queensland Acting Detective Superintendent Glen Donaldson had a warning for others thinking they could hide child sex abuse behind high-tech walls.
‘Everything you do online leaves a trace,’ he said.
‘To those predators who seek to exploit children online, remember the next person you engage with online could be a police officer.’
Det Supt Donaldson said Task Force Argos and its international law enforcement partners would relentlessly target predators using technology to commit crimes against children.
‘These arrests are a testament to the commitment of QPS and law enforcement agencies globally, to work together to put alleged perpetrators before court and rescue any children in harm’s way,’ he said.
FBI legal attaché Nitiana Mann said the FBI and the AFP’s close working relationship was key to uncovering the heinous crimes.
‘The complexity and anonymity of these platforms means that no agency or country can fight these threats alone,’ she said.
AFP Commander Helen Schneider said such cases were cracked only by the tireless efforts of personnel ‘who never give up working to identify children who are being sexually assaulted or living with someone who is sharing child abuse material’.
‘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,” Commander Schneider said.
Senior police in the ACT, Queensland, NSW, South Australia and Tasmania worked in cooperation on the case.
If you or someone you know needs support, contact 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800.
For confidential 24-hour support in Australia call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
