Student had 80,000 child porn images
An Australian university student accused of being part of an international ring of child pornographers streaming videos live on the Internet had more than 80,000 images on his computer, police said yesterday.
The 38-year-old Queensland man was one of four Australians arrested after police in the United States and Canada infiltrated an Internet chat room to stop the ring trading in pornography.
So far, at least 27 people have been arrested in Australia, the United States, Canada and Britain.
Queensland police said the student, who was remanded in jail after appearing in court charged with possession and distribution of child exploitation material, may have had some authority in the group.
"He was an administrator of the chat room which gave him the authority to allow people to enter the room," Detective Superintendent Ross Barnett said.
Barnett said the man allegedly had 17 gigabytes, or more than 80,000 images, of pornographic material featuring children on his computer. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted.
Police said the three other Australians detained include a 30-year-old man from New South Wales, a 56-year-old Victorian man and a 22-year-old Queensland man.
The three have been charged with possessing child pornography and using a carriage service for child pornography material.
"This is a group of dedicated paedophiles around the world who are using this secure chat room to trade large volumes of child pornography," Barnett said.
Australian Federal Police said it was possible more Australians could be involved in the ring, which used a secret chat room to trade thousands of graphic images and videos of child pornography for their own purposes rather than for profit.
US officials said some of the videos included "molestation on demand" of both children and infants. The images are "truly horrifying," said Julie Myers, the assistant secretary for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Source: China Daily