SYDNEY: Following an American FBI investigation, officials announced on Tuesday that 19 men had been arrested and charged with a combined 138 offences in connection to an international paedophile ring in Australia, Fox News reported.
Over a dozen men have been charged with sex crimes in Australia following an American FBI investigation that proved fatal for two agents.
“We will allege that these men were members of a technologically sophisticated online child abuse network that was operating across the country,” Australian Federal Police Commander Helen Schneider said while speaking to the media.
“We are proud of our longstanding relationship with the Australian Federal Police resulting in 19 Australian men facing criminal prosecution as a result of our collaborative investigation,” FBI Legal Attaché Nitiana Mann said, Fox News reported.
Two of the suspects have already been convicted and sentenced, according to authorities.
Those convicted are set to serve approximately 15 years in the Australian Capital Territory and five years in New South Wales, Fox News reported.
Thirteen children were rescued in the operation, but the circumstances of the victims have not been made public.
The Australian investigation began following a fatal shoot-out between FBI agents and an American suspect tied to the criminal group, Fox News reported.
FBI special agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger were killed in 2021 while attempting to execute a search warrant for child pornography in Florida.
Suspect David Lee Huber, 55, fired a rifle through the door and killed the pair of agents, wounding three others. He then turned the gun on himself, Fox News reported.
“[Alfin and Schwartzenberger] were the best the FBI has to offer. Laura was not only a colleague but a close friend. You will not find more stalwart, honourable and hardworking agents than Dan and Laura,” former FBI Special Agent Nicole Parker was quoted as saying by Fox News.
Parker served in the agency’s Miami Division.
“We often spoke and Laura struggled with the darkness she saw, but her faith in God carried her through. These are the fine men and women that make the FBI proud,” Parker said.
“There is so much scandal these days but this is the work the FBI should be focusing on. I will not allow her legacy to be tainted by those who are ruining the reputation of the entire FBI,” Parker added. (ANI)