Evidence may point to more suspects in alleged Philippines paedophile ring case
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Version 0 of 1. Detectives from an international police network combating child sexual exploitation have returned to Australia from the Philippines to continue their investigation into Melbourne man, Peter Scully. Scully was arrested by police in the Philippines in March, where it was alleged he had been operating a global paedophile ring. He has been charged with the alleged torture and sexual abuse of children as young as 18 months old, alleged human trafficking, and the alleged murder of a 12-year-old. The two Dutch and two Australian detectives, from the Virtual Global Taskforce, are now working with police in Canberra to pore over electronic evidence provided to them by the National Bureau of Investigations in the Philippines. An Australian federal police (AFP) spokesman told Guardian Australia it was hoped the evidence would lead to other offenders being identified, as well as more victims being found so that they could be brought to safety. Philippine authorities were operationally leading the investigation, the spokesman said, but were working closely with Dutch and Australian authorities. “It is important to note that this matter is still going through the courts in the Philippines, and is still subject to ongoing investigations,” the spokesman said. “While the court process is ongoing it is important to not comment on matters which may jeopardise proceedings.” Over the past five years, the AFP had made more than 400 arrests or court summonses in relation to more than 1,000 offence charges related to child exploitation, the spokesman said. Related: Australian man charged with murder of 12-year-old girl in Philippines According to the AFP, sexual exploitation of children online and through child sex tourism is one of the most serious emerging transnational crime threats in the Asia-Pacific region. “When investigating these types of crimes, we need to ensure that every effort is made to prevent the abuse of a child before it occurs,” the spokesman said. “To do this, the AFP works closely with the local law enforcement agencies in the respective country through the provision of information and where appropriate, resources to be able to identify, locate and remove children from harm and arrest and prosecute the facilitators.” The UN and FBI in the US believe there are 750,000 child sex predators online at any one time. “Societal appetite for child exploitation material is not only astonishing but extremely concerning and is beyond a pure policing response, it does require the participation of the whole community in ensuring our children are free from risk of child sexual exploitation,” the AFP spokesman said. The Virtual Global Taskforce was established in 2003 to combat online child exploitation, with 13 countries now members. Scully faces life imprisonment if found guilty of the allegations against him. |