More than 100 Australian men arrested as part of global child abuse investigation

Dozens of Australian children have been removed from harm and more than 100 men have been charged as an international investigation into child abuse comes to an end. 

The joint investigation between Australian and international authorities — known globally as Operation H and locally as Operation Molto — began in 2019 and has resulted in at least 117 Australian men being arrested, facing a combined total of 1,248 charges.

In that time, 153 children have been removed from harm across multiple countries, including 51 in Australia.

The nationwide Operation Molto was led by the Australian Federal Police’s Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) and began after police received intelligence that thousands of offenders were using a cloud storage platform to share child abuse material online. 

AFP Assistant Commissioner Lesa Gale described the offences as “horrific”. 

“Viewing, distributing or producing child abuse material is a horrific crime,” she said.

The alleged Australian offenders range between 18 and 61 years old.

Of the offenders; 58 were arrested in Queensland, 18 in Victoria, 17 in New South Wales, 12 in South Australia, eight in Western Australia, three in Tasmania, three in the ACT and two in the Northern Territory.

Police said the alleged offenders were employed in a range of occupations, from construction, transport, law enforcement and hospitality. 

Detective Superintendent Jayne Welsh from Victoria Police said the organisation’s top priority was to protect children from any further harm.

“Victoria Police will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners across Australia and internationally to actively target online predators and to protect children,” she said.

“I would urge parents to be vigilant and to proactively have conversations with your children about online safety.