Police from Taskforce Argos will today extradite a 42-year-old man from New Zealand to face charges relating to the sexual abuse of a child and his alleged involvement in a global child sex offender network, Queensland Police say.
Operation Juliet Conduit commenced in October 2011 following information received from New Zealand authorities regarding the online activities of two men posting explicit child exploitation content on a device belonging to a 42-year-old New Zealand man.
The protracted operation involved a complex investigation by officers from Taskforce Argos and international police. A significant part of the investigation focused on the two Australian men who had claimed to have adopted a baby from a Russian surrogate mother.
The investigation uncovered the two men had procured the child for the intent of sexual exploitation and had facilitated the abuse of the child as part of an international network of child sex offenders.
The two men were arrested and charged during a trip to the United States in February 2012. Both were charged with conspiracy to sexually exploit a child and the sexual exploitation of a child. The 46-year-old man was sentenced to 40 years in a United States jail and the 39 year-old man, 30 years.
During the examination of devices belonging to the men, chat logs, images and video were obtained by investigators identifying the 42-year-old New Zealand man had engaged in the sexual abuse of the child and taken hundreds of indecent images.
In August 2016 New Zealand Police arrested the man. Today Queensland Police will extradite the man to Brisbane to face nine charges of indecent treatment of a child under 12.
He will appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court tomorrow.
"This arrest closes the final chapter on a protracted and difficult investigation that has resulted in the arrest of members of a child sex offender network that spanned the globe. It is testimony to the dedication and commitment of Queensland Police child protection investigators," Detective Inspector Jon Rouse of Taskforce Argos said.
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