Australia police charge man with abuse of 459 children

2 hours agoHelen LivingstoneSydneyGettyAustralian police have charged a 27-year-old man with 596 child-abuse-related offences against hundreds of children.A man who "actively targeted" children on social media and gaming platforms has been charged with hundreds of child-abuse related offences against 459 victims in Australia and 15 other countries, Queensland-police" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="6221" data-entity-type="organization">Queensland Police have said.The 27-year-old, who has been in custody since last February, has been charged with 596 offences after police found more 23,000 videos and images of the alleged abuse on his electronic devices.The "volume" of images and videos meant the process of identification took "time, skill and commitment," Detective Acting Chief Superintendent Denzil Clark of Queensland-police" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="6221" data-entity-type="organization">Queensland Police said. A total of 360 of the victims have so far been identified and investigations were ongoing, he added.More than 200 of the victims were in Australia, with the rest overseas, mainly in English-speaking countries, police said. Most of them were boys aged between seven and 15.Police were still working with international partners to identify victims and "ensure they are provided appropriate support," Clark said.He warned of an "increasing prevalence of children being groomed, coerced, or threatened into taking and sending sexual images of themselves, often through popular apps, games, and social media sites.""The trauma that this causes a child is significant," he added.Speaking to reporters he declined to name the sites used by the man but said they were "very popular". All the offending was online, he said, and other suspects were also being investigated.The man allegedly targeted children between 2018 and 2025, creating multiple online profiles and posing as both men and women, police said. The man recorded his interactions and used "grooming and coercion" to have his victims send him sexually explicit material that he "meticulously" saved to "named folders".The charges include 244 counts of producing child abuse material through a carriage service, 163 counts of using a carriage service to procure persons under 16 years of age and 87 counts of engage in sexual activity with a child using carriage service.The man was due to appear in court on Thursday.