How Queensland Police’s Task Force Argos hunted world’s worst monster
This is the story of how a Queensland Police Task Force helped track down a monster in a worldwide manhunt, saving a newborn baby who was days from death.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Sitting in a small Brisbane office, a covert police officer clicks on a video that’s just been shared to a chat group of child abusers.
It was the beginning of a remarkable seven-day manhunt across the planet for a monster who would later be jailed for 100 years, and the rescue of a newborn baby girl who was just days away from death.
Queensland Police’s Task Force Argos are world-leaders in catching child abusers – with 321 children saved across the globe in the last financial year.
Almost 50 child sex offenders have been charged with 275 offences, and Argos has referred 370 cases to international law enforcement.
Among those was Marcus Leon Davis – a 34-year-old man from Ohio, USA, who committed some of the most heinous child abuse officers had ever seen.
Covert officer, Henry, said his team first came across one of Davis’ videos in October last year.“The covert was online on an encrypted app in a group of 500 people who were all sharing material,” Henry told The Sunday Mail at Queensland Police headquarters.
“He came across one video of a man abusing a two year old girl … the video was very recent and very startling.”
The covert officer, posing as an offender, struck up a conversation with the user who shared the video and determined they had received it straight from the source.
The video had also been shared to the dark web just days earlier – confirming to officers the abuse of the child was happening in real time, and she was in very real danger.
But they had no idea who this monster was.
Within 24 hours, more than 100 victim identification experts, detectives, covert operatives, digital media experts and psychologists from across the globe mobilised to create a task force to track down the abuser.
That included authorities in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, New Zealand, United States of America, and in Asia, including Europol.
These professional built profiles of who this man might be and scrutinised videos for any clues of where to start looking.
Within days, a new video appeared from the same abuser – this time of him horrifically abusing a two-month-old baby girl. She still had a part of her umbilical cord intact in some of the earlier videos officers found.
“The abuse on the baby was so horrific that it was going to die if she wasn’t found,” Henry said.
“It was one of the worst cases of abuse that even our victim identification experts – who look at this 24/7 – (had seen). There were major concerns.”
They had no time to lose. They had to find this man, and fast.
Argos Detective Inspector Glen Donaldson said officers from all over the world worked day and night on the case.
“While overseas (detectives) are asleep, our officers are working on it. While they’re asleep, we’re working on it,” Insp Donaldson said.
“Speaking to the other investigators who were doing it, people didn’t sleep, they were working while off duty,” Henry said.
“It was a huge stress and toll on all those people, especially the officer here in Australia who found the video originally … because he had to maintain contact.”
In just a few days investigators identified the man was in the United States of America.
The information was passed onto the United States Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security, which conducted a huge volume of work to identify the offender.
It was on day seven they had a breakthrough – a man named Marcus Davis, 34, of Ohio.
Argos detectives waited nervously around a phone in Brisbane as the Secret Service pounced on the monster at his home in Springfield – an unsuspecting white and grey cottage with a porch and picket fence.
“Everyone was sitting by their phones, literally getting a blow-by-blow,” Henry said.
“‘Tactical team has gone in. Found the two kids. They’ve got the guy. Children in an ambulance on the way to hospital’.
“Everyone was over the moon, there were some smiling faces.”
Police charged Davis with two counts each of making and distributing child abuse material. He pleaded guilty and he was sentenced to 100 years in federal prison in May.
A deputy prosecutor for Clark County, Alice DeWine, told reporters after court that Davis’ case was “possibly the most heinous case that (she) has seen in a long time.”
Doctors told police that the baby would have died in at least a week if they had not found her.
Both girls have received medical care and are now safe – the core of why these officers go to work every day.
“My passion for policing is to look after vulnerable children, to protect them, rescue them, and give them a better life,” Henry said.
Inspector Donaldson said nothing will stop police from catching child abusers.
“That’s the important thing I want to get out to offenders.
“It doesn't matter what country they’re in, law enforcement around the world will drop everything to work on a job.
“Everything you do online leaves a trace.”
HOW THE PURSUIT UNFOLDED
January, 2022: Davis begins sexually abusing children and records the abuse to post it online.
October, 2023: Operation begins
Day 1: Covert Argos officer in Brisbane discovers a video in encrypted app of a two-year-old girl being sexually abused. Officer determines the abuse is recent and investigations begin to locate and identify the offender.
Day 2: Within 24 hours, a global group of 100 detectives, covert operatives, victim identification experts and psychologists mobilise to try and locate offender. This includes authorities in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the Netherlands, United States of America, and Asia.
Day 3: Further videos are released by the offender on a darknet forum of him abusing a two-month-old baby girl. The abuse is escalating, and police are told the baby will die if not found immediately.
Day 4-6: Intense investigations are carried out and the worldwide group of specialists work around the clock, some refusing to sleep and working on days off. Psychologists build profiles of who the offender might be, and victim identification experts analyse content for clues. They determine he lives in the United States.
Day 7: United State Secret Service conduct huge volume of work to identify offender as Marcus Leon Davis. Officers swoop on his Springfield home, arrest him, and rescue both children.
February, 2024:
Davis pleads guilty to two counts each of producing and distributing child exploitation material.
May 13, 2024: US District Judge sentences Davis to 100 years jail – the maximum sentence on each count charged.
No body, no parole: Wife killer’s bid for freedom rejected
Clive Anthony Nicholson sentenced to life in 2006 for the murder of his wife Julie Rose Cowen-Nicholson, whose body has never been found, has lost his latest bid for parole.
Brisbane eatery owners fined thousands for food safety breaches
Two former owners of Brisbane fast food venues have been fined $25,000 between them for breaching food safety regulations.