A 27-year-old man faces hundreds of charges after police found 23,000 explicit images involving children allegedly groomed online.
SYDNEY: Australian police have charged a man with nearly 600 child abuse offences. The charges follow the discovery of 23,000 sexually explicit images on his computer.
Queensland Police chief superintendent Denzil Clark said detectives identified 459 victims within the cache. The material allegedly documented the 27-year-old’s crimes in meticulous detail.
Victims were aged between seven and 15 years old. They lived both in Australia and abroad.
“It will be alleged the man actively targeted the victims on popular social media and gaming platforms and the offending was between 2018 to 2025,” Clark told reporters. Police further allege the man created multiple fake online profiles to groom, coerce and threaten young people.
Clark described the case as “extremely concerning and disturbing offending”. He warned of an increasing prevalence of children being manipulated online.
“The trauma that this causes a child is significant,” Clark stated. He noted the coercion often happens through popular apps, games, and social media sites.
The man faces 596 separate charges. These include more than 200 counts of producing child abuse material and 87 counts of sexual activity with a child over the internet.
Australia recently banned under-16s from several major social media platforms. The move cited an alarming rise in adult predators finding young victims online.
