Police in Australia on Monday announced the arrest of four Sydney men accused of being involved in a online child sex abuse material ring. Photo courtesy of New South Wales Police Force
Dec. 1 (UPI) — Authorities in Australia on Monday said they have arrested and charged four Sydney men for their alleged role in what they called “an international satanic child sex abuse material ring.”
The suspects were detained Thursday when police executed six search warrants in the Sydney regions of Waterloo, Ultimo and Malabar, the New South Wales Police said Monday in a statement.
At the Waterloo residence, a 26-year-old man was arrested. Police allege he played a leading role in the illicit group. The three other suspects, aged 39, 42, and 49, were arrested at a unit block in Malabar.
The suspects were arrested by officers of Strike Force Constantine, which investigates the online distribution of child sexual abuse material involving ritualistic or satanic themes.
Officers with the task force uncovered what the NSW Police Force said was “a Sydney-based pedophile network” involved in facilitating, possessing and distributing such illegal material via an internationally administered website.
All four men were denied bail Friday.
Video of the arrest at the Waterloo location was shared with reporters showing masked officers in tactical gear storm an apartment. The 26-year-old suspect, seen dressed in a zebra print shirt and pants, is escorted from the residence in handcuffs by police. The suspect hides his face with the brim of a baseball cap pulled down.
An excerpt of the video was published on social media by the NSW Police Force.
Dept. Supt. Jayne Doherty told reporters during a press conference Monday that the suspects had shared “abhorrent” content online involving children as young as infants, as well as animals.
Thousands of videos were discovered on electronic devices seized during the execution of the search warrants last week, she said.
“Police will allege in court that this international group were engaging in conversations and the sharing of material which depicted child abuse and the torture of children involving symbols and rituals linked to Satanism and the occult,” she said.
The abuse captured was “particularly devastating in that they used symbols and rituals around it in the discussions that they were having about abusing children,” she said, adding, “it had. a very ritualistic overview.”
The four men have been charged with various counts related to the possession and online distribution of child sex abuse and bestiality material.