- Alleged child sex predators arrested
- By Tony Bartlett
- The Herald Sun
- 28/02/2009 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: The Rooster ( 258 articles in 2009 )
SEVEN Brisbane men have been charged with 27 offences after being caught in an undercover police operation targeting internet child predators.
Thirty detectives from the anti-child abuse unit Taskforce Argos raided seven homes across Brisbane today and arrested the men who range in age from 23 to 59.
Some of them are fathers.
Their professions vary from a pharmacist and a sales representative, to a chef and an entertainment manager who is the holder of a Blue Card - the Queensland Government's official clearance for working or volunteering with children.
All will appear in court tomorrow and face jail terms of up to 15 years.
Detective Superintendent Peter Crawford said the operation began in September last year and focused on the Christmas school holiday break, with around half a dozen officers patrolling social networking sites and chat rooms, posing as underage girls.
"The focus of this operation was to apprehend people who had exposed themselves to covert police officers online, largely over the school holiday period," Supt Crawford said.
"It's very common now for our children to be involved in chat groups and social networking sites and to be putting a lot of information on their pages - which are accessible to anybody.
Supt Crawford said there were a number of things parents can do to reduce the risk to their children when they were online.
"They have to be very wary of people they don't know face-to-face in the real world," he said.
"Look at their social networking sites and the information that's contained there."
Supt Crawford said it was also important for parents to consider a range of options like filtering software.
He said they should also weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of having a webcam attached to the computer because the offences which allegedly occurred in this operation required the use of the device.
Source: https://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25114605-662,00.html
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