Internal affairs cracks international child abuse case
Internal affairs investigation cracks international child abuse case
The jailing of an Australian man
for 40 years in the US for sexually abusing a young boy was
the direct result of an Investigation by New Zealand’s
Department of Internal Affairs.
The 42 year old man
bought a baby boy for $US8000 (NZ$10,321) with his partner,
sexually abused the child and traded him to other
paedophiles to abuse.
He and his male partner, who
lived in Cairns, Australia, were tracked down by authorities
after being tipped off by the Censorship Compliance team at
Internal Affairs which investigates on-line child sex
abuse.
"Rescuing and protecting children from this
vile trade is what it's all about," says senior Internal
Affairs’ investigator, Jon Peacock. "This investigation
began in the Wellington region, but the web of abuse took on
an international perspective with offences being discovered
in France, Germany, America, and Australia."
The
case was sparked by Mr Peacock's experienced eye, when he
noted something suspicious about a series of photos of a six
year old boy stored on the computer of a man in a separate
investigation.
"The photos were several studio or
professional shots of the boy in what appeared to be
artistic poses," says Mr Peacock, Team Leader, Censorship
Compliance. "However the poses and the way he looked into
the camera were unusual and tipped me off that something may
have been badly wrong. My first thought was I wanted to
contact the boy's parents or guardians to figure out if they
knew such photos were being taken."
Using clues to
the boy's identity from photos and video the investigation
team linked the case to Queensland and involved Australian
enforcement colleagues.
Further inquiry uncovered
evidence of offending and authorities in the US were also
involved.
The international investigation led to
this weekend’s sentencing of the boy’s guardian. The
man’s partner has also pleaded guilty and is due to be
sentenced later this year.
''For more than one year
and across three continents, these men submitted this young
child to some of the most heinous acts of exploitation that
this office has ever seen,'' Indiana US Attorney Joe Hogsett
said after the sentencing.
Mr Peacock says: “Our
small unit at Internal Affairs is building an international
reputation for work in identifying the victims of child
abuse. It is immensely satisfying that our work led to the
cracking of a network like this, and working collaboratively
with our overseas colleagues can bring justice in to the
lives of victims.”
The US District Court in
Indianapolis (Friday US time) heard the two men, who had
been living in California, bought the newborn boy in an
undisclosed country and used falsified documents in Los
Angeles in an attempt to adopt him.
The boy was
rescued by US authorities and is being cared for in
California.
ENDS