A Wollongong man is to appear in court next months after being arrested at the Australian end of an international child internet porn operation.
A spokeswoman for the Australian Federal Police said warrants were executed yesterday with the NSW Child Protection Squad arresting the 29-year-old man at a home in the Wollongong suburb of Thirroul. He has been charged with possessing child pornography and will appear in Wollongong Local court on March 23.
The spokeswoman declined to comment on whether further arrests would be made in Australia.
She said the Australian High-Tech Crime Centre, established in July 2003 last year, played an integral part in the international multi-agency investigation called Operation Twins. She said this was an investigation into a sophisticated and well-coordinated web-based paedophile ring operating worldwide.
"Yesterday search warrants were executed worldwide with a number of arrests being made in several countries, along with the seizure of images, equipment and other items," she said.
The operation was led by the United Kingdom's national high-tech crime unit and was supported by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Customs, European Police (Europol), the German Federal Police and the AFP.
View: Complete article at The Age
News source: The Age
