Forty-four Australian men are facing 350 charges of possessing child exploitation material after a law enforcement referral sparked a large, nationwide criminal investigation. The alleged offenders are aged between 19 and 57 years old and were employed in a range of occupations, including construction, transport, law enforcement and hospitality. In the past 12 months alone, the ACCCE has intercepted and examined more than 250,000 child abuse material files. Of these, 44 referrals were made to ACCCE's victim identification team, making up more than 4,000 images and 2,200 videos. The ACCCE's victim identification team has also sent 49 referrals relating to victims of child abuse to 20 countries in the past 12 months.

Source: The Standard October 23, 2020 07:07 UTC