Fifty children have been rescued and nine people arrested after an Interpol investigation into an international paedophile ring.
The arrests were made in Thailand, Australia and the US and more are expected, Interpol said.
The investigation began in 2017 and focused on a hidden “dark web” site with 63,000 users worldwide.
Police believe 100 more children have suffered abuse and are working to identify them.
Operation Blackwrist was launched by Interpol after it detected images showing 11 boys aged under 13 being abused on a site where people can use encrypted software to maintain secrecy.
Secret Service officers shoot armed individual near White House
Palisades Fire suspect was allegedly ‘fixated’ on Luigi Mangione and held ‘resentment of the rich’: court docs
Becerra and Hilton tied as California governor race tightens: Poll
Pennsylvania Democrats rebuke ‘traitor’ Fetterman as party threatens primary challenge
Jeffries launches New York gerrymander push after redistricting clash with DeSantis
Trump Says Iran Will Be ‘Blown Off the Face of the Earth’ if They Fire on US Boats in Strait of Hormuz
Disgraced Dem cut off from doing business with government after alleged ‘outright fraud’ uncovered
Three Dead, Others Sickened in Outbreak of Rare Disease Aboard Cruise Ship
Ceasefire threatened as Iran launches waves of missiles and drones at UAE
Judge rants that Jan. 6 inmates were treated better than alleged WHCA dinner gunman
Convicted Somali scammer to avoid jail time in Minnesota’s largest-ever Medicaid fraud case
House minority leader mocks Trump with ‘Jeffries Derangement Syndrome’ jab
Schumer, Dems launch ‘free and fair’ elections task force as Trump’s SAVE America Act stumbles
FBI arrests leftist Senate hopeful for alleged death threats against Trump, Congress member and daughter
Iran Responds to Trump’s New Strait of Hormuz Plan with Aggressive Threat
The dark net is an internet area beyond the reach of mainstream search engines.
The US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) department traced the IP address of the website, which was hosting photos and videos of abuse.
Police say the abusers uploaded new images on a weekly basis and often masked the children’s faces to make it harder for investigators to identify them.
The first arrests came last year, when the site’s main administrator, Montri Salangam, was detained in Thailand, and another administrator, Ruecha Tokputza, was caught in Australia.
Secret Service officers shoot armed individual near White House
Palisades Fire suspect was allegedly ‘fixated’ on Luigi Mangione and held ‘resentment of the rich’: court docs
Becerra and Hilton tied as California governor race tightens: Poll
Pennsylvania Democrats rebuke ‘traitor’ Fetterman as party threatens primary challenge
Jeffries launches New York gerrymander push after redistricting clash with DeSantis
Trump Says Iran Will Be ‘Blown Off the Face of the Earth’ if They Fire on US Boats in Strait of Hormuz
Disgraced Dem cut off from doing business with government after alleged ‘outright fraud’ uncovered
Three Dead, Others Sickened in Outbreak of Rare Disease Aboard Cruise Ship
Ceasefire threatened as Iran launches waves of missiles and drones at UAE
Judge rants that Jan. 6 inmates were treated better than alleged WHCA dinner gunman
Convicted Somali scammer to avoid jail time in Minnesota’s largest-ever Medicaid fraud case
House minority leader mocks Trump with ‘Jeffries Derangement Syndrome’ jab
Schumer, Dems launch ‘free and fair’ elections task force as Trump’s SAVE America Act stumbles
FBI arrests leftist Senate hopeful for alleged death threats against Trump, Congress member and daughter
Iran Responds to Trump’s New Strait of Hormuz Plan with Aggressive Threat
Salangam, who abused one of his nephews, was sentenced to 146 years in prison in Thailand, while an accomplice, a pre-school teacher, got 36 years.
Tokputza was sentenced to 40 years on Friday after pleading guilty to 51 charges against 11 babies and boys, the heaviest sentence ever handed down in Australia for child sex offences.
Police found thousands of images taken in both Thailand and Australia on his devices. In some of them Tokputza was the main abuser. The youngest victim to be identified was 15 months old.
“You are a child’s worst nightmare, you are every parent’s horror, you are a menace to the community,” Judge Liesl Chapman said in Adelaide.
The identities of the others arrested are yet to be released, but some are residing in the US and held public positions of trust, said Eric McLoughlin, the HSI’s regional attache in Bangkok.
Story cited here.
