SA Police stop website featuring nude images of Adelaide women but no arrests after 11-month international investigation

EXCLUSIVE: Three men and a teenager suspected of running the perverse Adelaide Girls nude website cannot be arrested because the law blocks police from securing enough evidence to charge them.

• Stolen, intimate images of 400 Adelaide women published online
• Authorities seek to block access to “Adelaide girls” nude website
• “Adelaide girls” nude website shut down but images spread online
• Sunrise apologises for blaming nude website victims

THREE men and a teenager suspected of running the twisted Adelaide Girls website cannot be arrested because international law blocks South Australian police from securing enough evidence to lay charges.

The Advertiser can reveal that an 11-month SA Police investigation, dubbed Operation Metropolis, has been impeded by the website’s US-based host company.

Although it agreed to delete the data, the company refused to identify the uploaders — and cannot, under international law, be compelled to do so.

The partial victory has frustrated police and caused further anguish for the women whose privacy was violated without their consent.

They say state and Commonwealth legislation has failed to protect them by not keeping up with technology and the increasingly digital world.

“This is extremely disappointing, our legal system is a joke ... it makes me have no faith in the law at all,” one woman said.

“Where is the justice for the girls and women whose privacy was violated? What’s stopping these guys from doing this again? Where’s their punishment?

“We fear the message this sends to other people out there is that, if you do the same ... you can get away with it.”

In June last year, The Advertiser revealed nude, risque and revealing photos of more than 400 Adelaide women and teenagers were being shared by the website.

All of the images had been taken from the women’s personal social media accounts without permission, and some of the people shown were allegedly under the age of consent.

The women — including Amy Cornes, daughter of football legend Graham Cornes — called for justice while SA Police and federal authorities moved to block access to the site.

Amy Cornes — pictured with her football legend father Graham.

Although the original website was deleted, its contents spread to three other sites where users digitally manipulated them to create fake pornographic images.

The criminal acts sparked widespread debate about image-sharing, and controversy when Channel 7’s Sunrise program posted a Facebook update that blamed the women for the crime.

This week, Detective Inspector Shane Addison, from SA Police’s commercial and electronic crime branch, said Operation Metropolis had been “lengthy and extensive”. Police received 33 complaints, 14 of which constituted a criminal offence under SA law.

“Every person who made a report was contacted when the images were categorised and offered victim support,” he said.

Insp Addison said detectives spoke to the US operators of the site, despite having no legal power to compel them to co-operate.

“The administrators of the site refused to identify the individuals who had posted the images,” he said.

“The investigation identified some of the photographs were also posted on three other offshore file-sharing websites.

Contact was made with the compliance section of these sites which resulted in the removal of links to the images and banning of the accounts responsible.

Insp Addision said any information that would identify the individuals linked to the relevant accounts could not be supplied. He said four people — three SA men and one male youth — were “identified as potential suspects” and interviewed.

“All denied involvement with posting information to the websites,” he said.

“Investigators also seized potential electronic evidence from all four, however, a full review of the material found no evidence to support the investigation.

“At this time, no one has been arrested or charged as a result of Operation Metropolis and the operation has now been closed, pending the receipt of new information.”

Insp Addison said none of the women were to blame for the manner in which their stolen property had been used, and he urged the public to be cautious with sensitive material.

“There are risks associated with taking and sending naked or intimate images via social or other electronic media and the storing of such images in the cloud,” he said.

“Once images have been sent, the sender loses any control of those images, how they may be used and by whom.”

Amy Cornes’ mother, Nicole Cornes, called for laws to be overhauled to allow such perpetrators be brought to justice.

“It is outrageous that we can’t identify them, that they can continue to manage these websites as they do and that’s why our Federal Government needs to look at ways to stop this from happening,” she said.

“This is a form of abuse in many respects and ... the Commonwealth needs to work out how to contain this matter.”

Federal eSafety Commissioner Alastair MacGibbon said the website www.esafety.gov.au/women provided assistance to women harassed online.

“Women should also be aware that most social media services have help or safety centres which explain how to configure privacy settings, report offending content and block users,” he said.

“It can sometimes be hard to get photos and videos removed, however, there are steps women can take.

“If the woman is under the age of 18, they should report it to the Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner to remove the material.”

One of the women said “hints and tips” were useful, but left responsibility in the hands of potential victims instead of perpetrators.

“All of these girls and women had their privacy violated — this was a crime, not a ‘mistake’ or something they could have stopped,” she said.

“There’s a generation of young men out there that needs to be taught about privacy, respect and loyalty. We are sick of victim-blaming in these situations, especially when perpetrators always end up off the hook.”