This is a joint media release between Victoria Police and the Australian Federal Police
Editor's note: Television interviews + infographics available via Hightail here.
Twenty-six members of a secret online child exploitation group have been charged with more than 1000 offences after one of the most significant online child abuse investigations in Australia.
A year-long covert investigation by the AFP and Victoria Police under the Victoria Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (JACET) began in late 2023 following intelligence shared by Queensland Police Service.
This led to the infiltration of an online group using an encrypted messaging application to share both abhorrent text and image-based material, and source children to sexually abuse.
Law enforcement can now reveal the details as investigations have concluded.
The online group was shut down and 26 Victorian-based alleged members were charged with more than 1000 offences, including the possession, access, transmission, solicitation, and production of child abuse material.
Many of the men charged have now been convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment, while others remain before the courts.
Group members shared collections of child abuse material and child sexual abuse fantasies in the mistaken belief the app's encryption would shield them from detection. This included images and videos depicting the sexual abuse, torture and murder of infants and young children, as well as bestiality.
No newly generated material involving Australian children was identified during the course of the investigation.
As a result of the efforts to identify members of the group, who were believed to be based across Australia and overseas, AFP and Victoria Police JACET investigators executed 31 search warrants across Victoria and seized 100 electronic devices. About 65,000 unique child abuse images and videos were identified including more than 300 hours of child abuse videos - the equivalent of about 175 feature films.
Nineteen referrals were made to domestic and international law enforcement agencies, which resulted in the arrest of nine further alleged offenders by NSW Police Force.
A Melbourne man, 46, was charged with creating and administering a group on the encrypted messaging application for the sharing of child abuse material. He was sentenced to more than 12 years' imprisonment by the Melbourne County Court in September, 2024.
A Central Victorian man was charged with more than 250 offences relating to transmitting, accessing, producing and soliciting child abuse material through various individuals he met in the group. In December 2025, he was sentenced to six years' imprisonment.
Victoria Police Detective Superintendent Tim McKinney, Cybercrime Division, said the material shared between this group was truly among the most depraved ever seen by law enforcement.
"Our investigators faced the distressing task of combing through 300+ hours of material," D/Supt McKinney said.
"There were also written conversations where these participants expressed their desire to find children and infants in real life.
"Though we believe the contact offending in this material occurred offshore, this investigation highlights that there are individuals living in our community who for unfathomable reasons want access to this material and by their interest feed its production and distribution.
"There are international law enforcement efforts to identify the creators and consumers of this material no matter where they may be.
"The majority of the 26 men charged in Victoria were not previously known to law enforcement. Without this covert operation, these men would not have been stopped, and they would not have been brought to justice.
"The harsh reality is that the prevalence of child abuse material in society is only growing, and there is no set idea of what an offender looks like. It can be anyone - a young person in their teens, someone who is married with a family, people in relationships.
"Our investigators will never stop; they will continue to work tirelessly to prevent children from further harm. Everything you do online leaves a footprint and is almost impossible to conceal. If you believe hiding behind a screen affords you anonymity, you are wrong. You can and very well should expect a knock on the door from law enforcement.
"This major investigation involved AFP and Victoria Police members, from areas including investigations, covert operations, digital forensics and victim identification."
AFP Detective Superintendent Bernard Geason said the child abuse material shared in the secret online chat group was so abhorrent and extreme it had rattled long-serving child protection investigators.
"I am extremely proud of the persistence of the investigators involved in this extremely distressing investigation. I would like to thank them for their unwavering dedication to identifying the alleged offenders and stopping further abuse. This is a hard reminder of how pervasive this crime can be," Det Supt Geason said.
"It is a sad reality where our society has many individuals who will exploit children for their own perverse desires. The contents of this chat group are among the worst of the worst. This investigation has stopped people sharing violent abuse material and disrupted an online market of misery - but there is a tidal wave of this material on the internet and constant demands for more.
"Each of the men charged during this investigation likely thought they were cloaked and hidden behind layers of encryption. Let this be a reminder - law enforcement is everywhere. Our experts are among the best in the world at exposing and stopping anyone involved in the exploitation of children.
"The AFP and its partners will never stop trying to protect children, no matter where they live, from the scourge of exploitation and abuse."
The AFP and Victoria Police have also continued to assist global efforts to identify children depicted in the videos and images by adding the material to the International Child Sexual Exploitation database. This will help the global victim-identification and international law enforcement community to piece together clues which could identify victims, their locations and other offenders.
Anyone with any information on child abuse or child abuse material should contact 1800 333 000 or submit an anonymous report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
