Australia: No money available to chase internet pedophiles

PEDOPHILES preying on children over the internet are going unpunished because state and federal police do not have the resources to investigate. The Daily Telegraph has obtained a series of letters from Federal Police agents asking NSW Police to take over cases because they do not have the staff to investigate pedophiles. In one alarming case, a NSW man who "groomed'' a 14-year-old boy in the US for sex on the internet and confided he had molested 100 children was not picked up by NSW Police until four months after the case was handed over by the AFP.

"This matter was originally referred to an operational area of the AFP, however due to operational and resource issues, no investigational activity was able to be commenced at the time," an agent from the AFP's online child sexual exploitation team wrote to NSW Police on November 7 last year. The man, referred to as the "truck driver" in the police file, was not arrested until March, eight months after US authorities first alerted the AFP's Washington bureau to the predator.

"These delays – or in some cases failure to investigate – are unacceptable and the public expects crimes where children are involved to be a top priority," Police Federation of Australia chief executive Mark Burgess said yesterday. The man is known to possess firearms and posed as a scout leader in New Zealand until he was caught with a child in his sleeping bag while on camp. He is currently on bail and awaiting trial. "He made admissions to having a problem with boys, having interfered with 100 children," the AFP letter said. "It is believed one male victim was slightly retarded and has since been in an institution."

In another case offloaded by the AFP due to lack of resources, nine Australians caught sharing child pornography through a global child pornography network are yet to be charged. This is despite the AFP referring the case to NSW on July 26, 2006, listing the names and addresses of the alleged offenders. "The above persons have been identified as residing in NSW and this referral package is provided to your agency for whatever action you deem necessary," the letter read.

Three other NSW offenders were caught trying to share child pornography on the internet with an undercover police officer based in Germany, but once again the AFP halted the investigation because of lack of funding.

The Daily Telegraph has been told more than 100 child exploitation cases had been handed to NSW police in the past year but only half are likely to be investigated by child protection police. The rest will be farmed out to local commands or dropped. The State Government has promised to boost the specialised NSW child exploitation internet unit from four to 11 officers, but will not deliver until 2010.

Report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)