Six Queensland men have been charged with more than 100 child sex offences following extensive investigations by taskforce Argos detectives.
Detective Acting Superintendent Glen Donaldson said the alleged offences committed by the men were “extremely serious, and in some cases truly shocking”.
As part of the investigation, a 46-year-old Fortitude Valley man was charged with more than 20 child sex offences and is accused of photographing children in public toilets as well as running a hidden network inside a child exploitation website.
A 44-year-old Beerwah man was taken into custody accused of 62 offences, including making child exploitation material.
An Upper Kedron man, 42, and a Cairns man, 39, were charged with using a carriage service to access child exploitation material.
A 22-year-old Albion man was charged with grooming a child and making exploitation material and police allege a 26-year-old man from Carina, used social media to attempt to meet a child.
All of the men charged are due to face court in the coming weeks.
Detective Acting Superintendent Donaldson said the offences involved children as young as infants, toddlers, and up to 17 years old.
“The maximum penalty for some of these offences is 20 years imprisonment,” he said.
“This is probably every parent’s worst nightmare.”
Detective Acting Superintendent Donaldson said the 22-year-old Albion man charged with grooming a child and making exploitation material had written down his “fantasies”.
“These arrests are a reminder to parents and caregivers of the dangers of online predators and how crucial trusted loved ones are in teaching children about privacy, personal safety and that nothing is so awful they can’t speak to them about it,” he said.
Between 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, the Queensland Police Service charged 1,587 people with 8,005 child sex offences.
Queensland police have also submitted 15,699 reports to the Department of Child Safety, Seniors and Disability Services regarding children identified as being at risk of significant harm.
Authorities referred a further 2,329 matters to Family and Child Connect where serious concerns were held by first response police regarding the wellbeing of a child, and police believed support to the child and family would prevent a report to child safety
(ABC)
