A 42-year-old Cowra school teacher is among 339 suspects arrested around the globe for their alleged involvement in an international child abuse ring, originating in Canada.
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Twelve people from South Australia were arrested on Friday, with four people from NSW arrested earlier in the year.
The Australian Federal Police released details about the arrests under Operation Thunderer on Friday.
The three-year old investigation is one of the largest of its kind in the world.
It was led by the Toronto Police Service which alleges it uncovered a large international network of people using a Canadian-based website to access child exploitation materials.
Six children, in Western Australia and the ACT, have been removed from harm, according to the AFP. Another 380 children around the world have received assistance.
AFP video from a house search in South Australia
The list of arrests include four men arrested by the NSW Police Force Sex Crimes Squad’s Child Exploitation Internet Unit.
* A 42-year-old school teacher arrested at Cowra on Wednesday 24 July 2013 and charged with possess child abuse material and using a carriage service to access child pornography;
* A 57-year-old Catholic priest arrested at The Rocks on Monday 29 July 2013 and charged with using a carriage service to access child pornography;
* A 42-year-old school teacher arrested at Emu Plains on Wednesday 7 August 2013 and charged with possess child abuse material and using a carriage service to access child pornography; and
* A 72-year-old retired Catholic priest arrested at Lake Haven on Tuesday 20 August 2013 and charged with possessing child abuse material and using a carriage service to access child pornography.
The four men remain before the court.
Commander of the NSW Police Sex Crimes Squad, Detective Superintendent John Kerlatec, said the Sex Crimes Squad would continue to work closely with its counterparts both here in Australia and overseas to target those people involved in the sexual exploitation of children.
“The internet has created new opportunities for sex offenders to target and sexually exploit children and we will continue to prioritise the identification of these people so they can be put before the courts,” Det Supt Kerlatec said.
“Behind every child abuse image there is a real victim who has been sexually exploited and abused, and we need to do everything we can to remove these children from harm and arrest those involved in that exploitation.”
Operation Thunderer investigations are ongoing