1 min read

CANBERRA, Australia — Police have arrested 65 men across Australia as part of a sweeping Canadian-led child pornography investigation that resulted in the rescue of 386 children and arrests around the world.

Australian Federal Police commander Glen McEwen said Friday that the arrests had been made in raids across most Australian states as a result of the investigation into a child exploitation website operating out of Canada. Six Australian children had been removed by police from harm, he said.

Australian police executed 103 search warrants and filed 399 charges against men aged 22 to 76, mostly for accessing child exploitation material from the website, McEwen said. The men included four teachers, a priest, a retired priest and a bank manager.

Police declined to detail the circumstances of the children. Five are from Western Australia state and one is from the national capital Canberra.

Canadian police said 348 people had been arrested around the world, including 108 in Canada and 76 in the United States.

Toronto police describe the Project Spade operation as one of the largest child porn busts they’ve seen.

Comments are no longer available on this story