In March 2023, the child exploitation internet unit formed Strike Force Packer to investigate a child abuse ring whose members were allegedly hosting and joining video conferences to share child abuse videos.
The NSW online child abuse detectives soon discovered the syndicate’s tentacles spread across Australia – and the world – with hundreds of users in Europe, Asia and the US.
On Tuesday, 40-year-old James Terence Rebbeck, from Leichhardt in Sydney’s inner west, became the ninth NSW person arrested under Strike Force Packer.
On Tuesday, Rebbeck faced Downing Centre Local Court, charged with three counts of using a carriage service to transmit, publish or promote child abuse material, two counts of disseminating bestiality material and one count of using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material.
Rebbeck grew up in on the NSW South Coast where his family still live and is “residing with his partner of some four years”, the Legal Aid lawyer told the court, adding he had strong community ties.
But Freund refused bail, finding Rebbeck was an “unacceptable risk to the safety of victims and the community”, among other reasons.
The Australian Federal Police were working with Asian and European agencies to trace 213 users and almost 300 referrals for US-based users went to the FBI.
Doherty said the alleged syndicate was “driving an appetite amongst that community for more of this material, and more children are abused to produce it”.
“Every time these videos are viewed, that child victim is reoffended against,” she said.
Source: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/hundreds-of-men-snared-as-global-paedophile-video-ring-unearthed-in-sydney-20240220-p5f6ey.html?