LIBBY HOGAN: 14 men in Australia, including
a former child-care worker, were charged with producing
and sharing child-abuse material online,
said authorities on Wednesday.
A major bust exposing a global online network
that reached from Europe to Asia, the US,
Canada, and New Zealand.
Australian Federal Police Assistant
Commissioner Justine Gough.
JUSTINE GOUGH: 146 matters have been referred to Europe, Asia,
the United States, Canada, and New Zealand
about possible offending in those countries.
18 matters have been referred to the United States
with three men arrested in the United States
for multiple child-abuse-material offenses.
LIBBY HOGAN: With over 800 charges ranging
from producing child-abuse material to bestiality
relating to four animals.
These other latest arrests following the bust
of the online pedophile ring in recent weeks
when Australian authorities charged
44 men with possessing and producing child-abuse material.
It involved a year-long investigation in cooperation
with the US Homeland Security.
Adam Parks is the US Homeland Security investigations
attache to Australia.
ADAM PARKS: The referral numbers speak
for themselves, that this is a network,
so it's a global network.
Although rooted in Australia, it includes a network
in the United States as well and really globally,
and so therefore we're responding in a global manner.
LIBBY HOGAN: The investigation helped
identify 46 Australian victims, including
16 children from a single child-care center.
The police said the victims were aged
between 16 months and 15 years.
They have not ruled out further arrests.