Kyla
09-30-2004, 04:57 PM
Porn charges could double
LUKE MORFESSE
The number of WA men charged in Australia's biggest crackdown on child pornography is expected to double after a police analysis of computers and more than one million images seized in raids across suburban Perth and several country towns.
One WA man is alleged to have spent years amassing a collection of 200,000 images, which is 10 per cent of the two million images seized nationally.
Assistant Commissioner (Crime) Mal Shervill said yesterday that he expected more charges would follow as police carried more raids and interviewed new suspects.
"One of the key messages that we wanted to get across was that people who view, download and distribute child pornography consider perhaps it's an innocent thing to do but fundamentally every image they download there is a child somewhere in the world who is defenceless and without a choice being abused and degraded," he said.
Mr Shervill said the WA police officer charged after the week-long raids involving almost 90 officers was facing a section dismissal notice. The 34-year-old senior constable was stood down from all duties last week.
"It's extremely embarrassing for the police service," he said.
"These people are in a position of trust, the community trust them, children trust them and for one of our officers to be caught with child pornography is extremely embarrassing and distressing," Mr Shervill said.
Most of those chose charged, ranging in age from 24 to 66 years, are alleged to have used child porn websites in Belarus run by the Russian mafia and used their credit cards to pay for access that varied from days to months. Acting Det. Sen. Sgt Scott Warner, who ran the WA arm of Operation Auxin, said the images were appalling and degrading.
"We have been concerned by the extent of the quantity of some of the material seized," he said.
Operation Auxin resulted from extensive intelligence analysis, including information from a big American investigation last year called Operation Falcon.
In January this US authorities charged operators of a Florida-based credit card company linked to the Belarus operation.
Operation Auxin was run by the Australian High Tech Crime centre, which was set up to investigate internet based crime and involved Federal and all State and Territory police services.
The centre's director Mike Phelan said the internet industry financial institutions had assisted in the operation.
"We are confident that this operation will have a strong deterrent affect on others who might be tempted to engage in online child pornography," he said.
© 2004 West Australian Newspapers Limited
All Rights Reserved.
LUKE MORFESSE
The number of WA men charged in Australia's biggest crackdown on child pornography is expected to double after a police analysis of computers and more than one million images seized in raids across suburban Perth and several country towns.
One WA man is alleged to have spent years amassing a collection of 200,000 images, which is 10 per cent of the two million images seized nationally.
Assistant Commissioner (Crime) Mal Shervill said yesterday that he expected more charges would follow as police carried more raids and interviewed new suspects.
"One of the key messages that we wanted to get across was that people who view, download and distribute child pornography consider perhaps it's an innocent thing to do but fundamentally every image they download there is a child somewhere in the world who is defenceless and without a choice being abused and degraded," he said.
Mr Shervill said the WA police officer charged after the week-long raids involving almost 90 officers was facing a section dismissal notice. The 34-year-old senior constable was stood down from all duties last week.
"It's extremely embarrassing for the police service," he said.
"These people are in a position of trust, the community trust them, children trust them and for one of our officers to be caught with child pornography is extremely embarrassing and distressing," Mr Shervill said.
Most of those chose charged, ranging in age from 24 to 66 years, are alleged to have used child porn websites in Belarus run by the Russian mafia and used their credit cards to pay for access that varied from days to months. Acting Det. Sen. Sgt Scott Warner, who ran the WA arm of Operation Auxin, said the images were appalling and degrading.
"We have been concerned by the extent of the quantity of some of the material seized," he said.
Operation Auxin resulted from extensive intelligence analysis, including information from a big American investigation last year called Operation Falcon.
In January this US authorities charged operators of a Florida-based credit card company linked to the Belarus operation.
Operation Auxin was run by the Australian High Tech Crime centre, which was set up to investigate internet based crime and involved Federal and all State and Territory police services.
The centre's director Mike Phelan said the internet industry financial institutions had assisted in the operation.
"We are confident that this operation will have a strong deterrent affect on others who might be tempted to engage in online child pornography," he said.
© 2004 West Australian Newspapers Limited
All Rights Reserved.