A former nursery worker has been charged with 1,623 child abuse offenses allegedly committed against 91 children in Australia and elsewhere over 15 years, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said in a statement on Tuesday.
The 45-year-old man from the Gold Coast on Australia’s east coast has been in police custody since August 2022, when he was initially accused of making sexually exploitative material for a minor and using a transport service to distribute it.
Police said a special investigation had uncovered more child abuse material on electronic devices allegedly belonging to the man, who worked in a dozen childcare centers in Brisbane, Sydney and an unspecified overseas location between 2007 and 2022.
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“This is one of the most horrific cases of alleged child abuse our detectives have seen,” New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald told a news conference.
Other allegations include hundreds of cases of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 16, allegations of making child exploitation material and other allegations related to possessing, producing, distributing or obtaining child exploitative material.
Police said all the allegedly abused children were girls who had not yet reached puberty. Police said they were “highly confident” that all 87 Australian children featured in the alleged material had been identified and their parents informed of the investigation.
AFP said it was working with international authorities to help identify four children depicted in alleged overseas child abuse material.
“These allegations are horrific and confrontational, but I commend all investigators in each jurisdiction in their tireless efforts to ensure that our community is safer as a result of the arrest of the alleged perpetrator,” said Deputy Commissioner of the Queensland Police Service, Col Briggs.
The man, who has yet to be named by authorities, will face Brisbane Magistrates’ Court on August 21.
Source: CNN Brasil
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