12 men charged after police raids uncover child abuse material
Twenty men have been arrested in Victoria following statewide raids targeting "abhorrent crimes against children".
The raids, conducted over several days in March by investigators from Victoria Police and the AFP, resulted in charges against 12 men for possessing, accessing and sending child exploitation material and child pornography.
The men, from across the state, are aged from 19 to 62.
Three men from Heathcote, Hughesdale and Mulgrave are also expected to be charged on summons.
The charges come as the joint anti-child exploitation team revealed that on average paedophiles in Victoria share four million files containing child abuse material every month.
Police seized a number of items from the properties including child sex dolls, computers, tablets, phones, a samurai sword, illegal fireworks and drugs.
“The files depicted the sexual abuse and torture of children from newborn age up to 18 years of age,” Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said. “They could be from anywhere.”
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Investigators swooped on the men before their crimes potentially escalated to contact with children, Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said.
"There is clear evidence that child exploitation material is sometimes used for grooming and seducing victims," he said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Part of this operation was focused on establishing whether any of those arrested had moved from online offences to contact offending, and if there were any children currently at risk or who could be identified as victims of a sexual assault."
Mr Patton said child exploitation images and online child sexual offences were some of the fastest growing crimes across the world, fuelled by rapidly advancing technology.
"These are not simply online choices made for sexual gratification - they are abhorrent crimes against children, the most vulnerable people in our community," he said.
