Queensland ground zero for paedophile bust

A teacher, a man who worked at a hospital and a chef who lived near a childcare centre are among a group of Queenslanders arrested by a national paedophile-busting unit. FIND OUT WHERE THE ARRESTED PEOPLE CAME FROM

A NATIONAL paedophile-busting unit has pounced on 22 alleged perpetrators – the majority living in Queensland – during a month of action .

As Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton heads overseas to a global summit on child exploitation, specialist police have laid 56 charges against 22 alleged ­offenders, some who work with children, or live near daycare centres.

It comes as the Morrison Government doubles down on protecting Australian kids from predators and it expects to introduce new laws next year to give it the firepower it needs to hunt down those who profit from child exploitation.

Operation Soutien, the first nationally co-ordinated operation by the Brisbane-based Australian Centre to Counter Child ­Exploitation, executed search warrants across five states and the ACT, charging men aged ­between 31 and 74.

Through Australian Border Force, Operation Soutien also seized the importation of child sex dolls.

Despite many states requiring people who work with children be vetted, some of those charged have daily contact with children, or live near children.

Most will face court on charges of possessing child exploitation material and using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material.

In the latest operation, Queensland was ground zero for the Australian Federal Police-led unit, which recently received three days of intensive, specialist training by the US-based Child Rescue Coalition.

Eight Queenslanders, aged between 31 and 64, were charged, most living in the state’s south-east corner. Police charged a teacher, a 43-year-old man who worked at a hospital and a chef who lived near a childcare centre in ­Toowoomba.

Since 2014, Mr Dutton has booted out of Australia 427 ­people convicted of child sex ­offences.

Mr Dutton said keeping kids safe from sexual exploitation was a whole-of-community responsibility. “As a community and a country we say no to child sexual exploitation,’’ Mr Dutton said.

Mr Dutton left for Ethiopia yesterday to attend a global summit co-hosted by the African Union, the WePROTECT Global Alliance and the UK Government. The event aims to stamp out the vile trade of child sexual exploitation. Thirty ministers from 30 countries will attend.

Global concerns are in part concentrating on the dark web, where many pedophiles trade and share images.

The UK’s National Crime Agency reveals that there were almost three million child sexual abuse accounts registered ­globally on the dark web.

WHERE ALL THE ARRESTED PEOPLE CAME FROM

QUEENSLAND

8 suspects facing 31 charges

They include a manager from Tingalpa, IT worker from Mansfield, Toowoomba chef who lives next to a childcare centre, factory worker from Kingaroy, teacher from Rockhampton,
self-employed man from Labrador, and students from Harristown and Corinda

VICTORIA

3 suspects facing 10 charges

They include a training manager, company managing director and unemployed man

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

5 suspects on 8 charges

They include a charity
worker, teacher and three unemployed men

ACT

2 suspects on 3 charges

They are a contractor who lives across from a childcare centre and self-employed web designer

NSW

2 suspects on 2 charges

They are an unemployed former teacher previously convicted of indecency with a child and the secretary of a religious group

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

2 suspects on 2 charges

A retired man and another with an unspecified occupation