An international search for an abused child captured on a paedophile website has ended in Newcastle, with the arrest of the girl’s mother who is accused of taping the sexual assault of the young girl and uploading the images online.
The SMH report that the 29-year-old mother was tracked down in March when US-based Interpol came across the images and identified Australian accents.
It is alleged that the girl, who is now aged seven, was sexually assaulted by her mother.
The mother, who cannot be named to protect the identify of her daughter, has been charged with three counts of inciting an aggravated act of indecency, and one count each of using a child to produce child abuse material and disseminating child abuse material.
She has been refused bail.
NSW police have released a statement that says every “child exploitation image” that has been discovered is also an example of child abuse, because a child had been abused or exploited to create the image.
“A large number of those people arrested and charged with child exploitation offences in NSW have been targeted after information was provided to the NSW Police Force by other agencies,” the statement said.
“Likewise, offenders have been arrested and charged in other jurisdictions, including overseas, after being detected and identified by online covert operations run by the NSW Police Force.
“While the internet creates many opportunities for child predators to target children and connect with other offenders, it also presents many opportunities for police to detect and target them.”
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