Australian police said Monday they had charged four men in Sydney in relation to “satanic” child sex abuse material circulating online.
Detectives were probing an “international satanic child abuse material ring”, when they identified the suspects in Sydney, New South Wales state police said.
They are accused of possessing, distributing, and facilitating child abuse material through a website that was administered internationally.
Police arrested the four men on Thursday, including a 26-year-old man accused of playing a leading role in the group, they said in a statement.
The man was charged with 14 offences including using a carriage service to make available and access child abuse material.
The other three men, aged 39, 42, and 46, were arrested in a block of flats and charged with a string of offences related to child abuse material.
“Due to the nature of the material that they were sharing and the conversations that we became aware of, we were concerned about any children that these people might come in contact with as a result of that,” Sex Crimes Squad Detective Superintendent Jayne Doherty told a news conference.
Police seized several electronic devices, allegedly finding thousands of “deplorable” abuse videos on children between 5 and 12 years old, as well as bestiality.
“The sharing of child abuse material, unfortunately, is increasing,” Doherty said.
“We will work together to make sure a child is identified, and they can be rescued as soon as possible.”
Police said they had not yet verified where the material originated from nor identified any children from the videos.
All four men were refused bail while awaiting their next court appearance.
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