Will post when I find out more....the timing is suspect to say the least.
Global child porn ring busted
- From: AAP
- December 01, 2010
POLICE say they expect more arrests al network of child exploitation websites which sold sickening images of youngsters as young as three being abused.
Some of the child exploitation images were likely to have been made in Australia, federal police assistant commissioner Neil Gaughan said today.
Some of the website customers are also likely to live in Australia, he added.
"What we saw with this particular investigation was the bringing down of a sophisticated organised crime group that was responsible for pay-per-view child abuse images being distributed globally," Mr Gaughan said today.
The investigation led by a group of international police forces working under the banner of the Virtual Global Taskforce stemmed from a 2006 investigation in the US, called Operation Flicker.
There were a further 11 arrests in Belarus in 2008 followed by a second phase of the investigation, Operation Basket - involving the Australian Federal Police - which led to five further arrests in the Ukraine in January this year.
Mr Gaughan said it was likely further arrests would be made and the investigation was ongoing.
Police are now targeting customers who used the websites.
Luis Alvarez, Department of Homeland Security, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the websites involved were highly sophisticated.
"It took down a serious organisation worldwide," he said.
