Three New Zealanders charged for child porn distribution

Three New Zealanders have been arrested for distributing child abuse material online.

The three men now face charges of distributing and possessing objectionable publications. The Kiwis have been arrested after an international operation was conducted to track individuals involved in such crime.

The operation was launched in July 2014. A specialist from New Zealand police unit OCEANZ working for the FBI-led Violent Crimes Against Children International Taskforce coordinated the operation to protect children from online abuse.

There have been 48 individuals arrested worldwide during the operation. According to Detective Senior Sergeant John Michael, children are the “most vulnerable members of society” and they get victimised repeatedly due to a serious criminal offence like child abuse photographs.

"So far, 31 children have been rescued from abusive situations. Four children in New Zealand have been safeguarded from potential abuse," Otago Daily Times quoted him as saying. "Investigations are ongoing and in addition to those already identified and arrested, more than 100 investigative leads have so far been disseminated to countries involved."

Michael, the head of the OCEANZ team, said the operation showed the cooperation and coordination among people worldwide to bring child offenders to justice.

"As well as investigators from OCEANZ, Customs NZ and the Department of Internal Affairs, this investigation involved police and law enforcement agencies from the USA, Australia, Spain, Poland, Greece, France, Canada, Romania, and the United Kingdom," he said.

While New Zealand authorities call the operation “very successful,” child abuse operations in Spain and the Americas rescued at least three young girls. "Operation Without Borders" earlier executed 97 search warrants in countries like Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and the United States to arrest 60 alleged child abusers.

Deutsche Welle reported the international operation found 45,000 videos and 320,000 photographs of child pornography that had been distributed online, via social networks and emails.

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