Even seasoned detectives who were part of an elite squad were left shocked by the mammoth number of men they found gathering in a secret online space to share sickening child abuse material, with babies among the young victims depicted.
Strike Force Parker was established by New South Wales Police early last year after a Zoom room comprising more than 500 alleged pedophiles was uncovered.
The Child Exploitation Internet Unit led an international effort to unmask those who met regularly to view broadcast vision and images, teaming up with the Australian Federal Police and forces in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, as well as the FBI in the United States.
An administrator tightly controlled access to the meeting room, which was accessed via a closely guarded link, Detective Chief Inspector Adam Powderly, who manages the CEIU, recalled.
“There were a number of rules to (follow) to get in, like showing your face, being naked, being male … but we managed to infiltrate that group,” Mr Powderly told news.com.au.
To coincide with Child Protection Week, news.com.au spent time with the CEIU, which works around the clock to find victims of child sexual abuse and bring predators to justice.
Strike Force Parker saw a covert operative lurk in the background of the Zoom meetings to capture the faces and corresponding usernames of hundreds of alleged pedophiles. Then, IP addresses were traced to geographically locate the men.
The detective who infiltrated the group, which saw him confronted with horrifying images and vision of children being abused and exploited – some of them babies – received the Rotary Police Officer of the Year award.
Ten offenders across Australia, but mainly in New South Wales, were arrested on 73 charges.
In addition, Strike Force Packer identified 295 offenders in the United States and 213 more elsewhere internationally.
“It’s investigations like that which demonstrate how widespread our work is,” he said. “You’ve got to have really good working relationships with other law enforcement agencies, not just here, but also internationally.”
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The case bore similarities to Strike Force Hank, which was created in late 2021 after investigators discovered a number of men using a telephone chat service to discuss child sexual abuse.
Several raids were conducted of homes across New South Wales and dozens of arrests were made – the most high profile being of former NRL star Brett Finch.
Those taking part in the calls spoke of a desire to engage in the sexual abuse of kids, and some arranged to access child abuse material from other users.
“That was similar to Strike Force Parker (in that) it was offenders across the country,” Mr Powderly said.
“The majority of offenders were here in New South Wales. We had about 35 through that particular matter, so we managed it here and also made referrals across the country.”
While Finch’s arrest dominated coverage of the case, Mr Powderly said other offenders included teachers, a swimming instructor, and others working in jobs that gave them close access to children.
In court, Finch admitted to sending seven voice messages to other men on the telephone sex chat service FastMeet, talking about wanting to sexually abuse boys.
He insisted it was part of his desperate attempts to feed a cocaine addiction and not because he was a pedophile – a scheme the judge described as “absurd” but accepted it.
In November 2022, Finch was sentenced to two years imprisonment but it was wholly suspended.
Finch represented the Canberra Raiders, Sydney Roosters, Parramatta Eels and Melbourne Storm throughout a stellar career, during which he scored 66 tries in 270 NRL games.
Mr Powderly said that both Strike Force operations involved every single member of the 24-strong CEIU team.
“The dedication from these people to get out of bed each day is incredible. They come into work, they don’t complain, and they see the most horrific stuff, but they come back to keep going.”
And they have their work cut out for them, with the depraved acts of online predators “becoming more prevalent day by day (thanks to) technology”, Mr Powderly said.
“I think that as a society, we need to be across it. And we need to move forward and keep up with the advancements in technology. Offenders are trying to stay one step ahead of us.”
Mr Powderly admitted there are days when he goes home and can’t sleep at night, wondering what more he and his team can do to keep children safe.
“We’re chipping away, day by day; that’s all you can do.”
In the past 12 months, the work of the CEIU has resulted in 68 arrests and 326 charges, as well as the identification of 17 children.
