- Retired QC Neil James Williams charged with child porn offences
- By Simon Jenkins, Virginia Matthews and Edwina Scott
- AAP
- 11/12/2008 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: The Rooster ( 264 articles in 2008 )
A RETIRED QC from Victoria, a police officer from NSW and a childcare worker are among 19 people arrested in Australia as part of a global child abuse investigation.
More than 15,000 videos and 500,000 images of child abuse - described by police as among the worst they have seen - have been seized as a result of the 12-month investigation.
The images and videos, shared between members of an online network, capture the sexual abuse of children as young as one.
The investigation, dubbed Operation Resistance, has so far resulted in the arrests of 19 men across NSW, Victoria and Queensland.
Three others have been identified as persons of interest, and more arrests are likely in coming days.
Two children in NSW have been removed from contact with alleged offenders.
Retired QC Neil James Williams, 74, of Newham in central Victoria, faces two child pornography charges as part of the investigation.
Mr Williams was arrested by Australian Federal Police on October 22 and appeared shortly afterwards in the Bendigo Magistrates Court, where he was granted bail.
He is charged with one count of using a carriage service to access child pornography and one count of knowingly possessing child pornography. He is due back in the same court on March 4.
Those arrested were among 200 people, from 70 countries, named as persons of interest following an investigation by Brazilian authorities, the Australian Federal Police said.
"The videos seized as part of this operation have to be among the worst we have seen," AFP acting deputy commissioner of operations Andrew Colvin said.
"Some depicted sexual abuse of children lasting more than two hours."
Mr Colvin said those arrested had a range of job histories.
Their names would not be released at this stage, a police spokeswoman told AAP.
The matter involving the police officer is before the courts.
Mr Colvin said efforts were continuing to determine the identities of the young abuse victims, and where the abuse was carried out.
"At this stage those inquiries are still ongoing," he said.
"In this case we haven't located any children that were depicted in these videos or these images in Australia."
A Sydney man charged over the abuse network is facing charges after allegedly having sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl on several occasions.
Richard Ngong Fung Lee, 24, was arrested at his Blakehurst home today after allegedly accessing child pornography on his computer.
Police say he is one of the Australian men linked to Operation Resistance.
Mr Lee appeared in Sydney's Central Local Court on Thursday, where he faced two child pornography charges and six child sex charges.
It is alleged Mr Lee had sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl over a 17-month period from April 1, 2007 until September this year.
He is due to face the same court again on December 17.
More than 15,000 videos and 500,000 images of child abuse - described by police as among the worst they have seen - have been seized as a result of the 12-month investigation.
The images and videos, shared between members of an online network, capture the sexual abuse of children as young as one.
The investigation, dubbed Operation Resistance, has so far resulted in the arrests of 19 men across NSW, Victoria and Queensland.
Three others have been identified as persons of interest, and more arrests are likely in coming days.
Two children in NSW have been removed from contact with alleged offenders.
Retired QC Neil James Williams, 74, of Newham in central Victoria, faces two child pornography charges as part of the investigation.
Mr Williams was arrested by Australian Federal Police on October 22 and appeared shortly afterwards in the Bendigo Magistrates Court, where he was granted bail.
He is charged with one count of using a carriage service to access child pornography and one count of knowingly possessing child pornography. He is due back in the same court on March 4.
Those arrested were among 200 people, from 70 countries, named as persons of interest following an investigation by Brazilian authorities, the Australian Federal Police said.
"The videos seized as part of this operation have to be among the worst we have seen," AFP acting deputy commissioner of operations Andrew Colvin said.
"Some depicted sexual abuse of children lasting more than two hours."
Mr Colvin said those arrested had a range of job histories.
Their names would not be released at this stage, a police spokeswoman told AAP.
The matter involving the police officer is before the courts.
Mr Colvin said efforts were continuing to determine the identities of the young abuse victims, and where the abuse was carried out.
"At this stage those inquiries are still ongoing," he said.
"In this case we haven't located any children that were depicted in these videos or these images in Australia."
A Sydney man charged over the abuse network is facing charges after allegedly having sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl on several occasions.
Richard Ngong Fung Lee, 24, was arrested at his Blakehurst home today after allegedly accessing child pornography on his computer.
Police say he is one of the Australian men linked to Operation Resistance.
Mr Lee appeared in Sydney's Central Local Court on Thursday, where he faced two child pornography charges and six child sex charges.
It is alleged Mr Lee had sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl over a 17-month period from April 1, 2007 until September this year.
He is due to face the same court again on December 17.
Source: https://www.news.com.au/story/0,,24786538-1242,00.html
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