An administrator tightly controlled access to the meeting room, which was accessed via a closely guarded link, Detective Chief Inspector Adam Powderly, who manages the CEIU, recalled.
“There were a number of rules to (follow) to get in, like showing your face, being naked, being male … but we managed to infiltrate that group,” Mr Powderly told news.com.au. To coincide with Child Protection Week, news.com.au spent time with the CEIU, which works around the clock to find victims of child sexual abuse and bring predators to justice.
Strike Force Parker saw a covert operative lurk in the background of the Zoom meetings to capture the faces and corresponding usernames of hundreds of alleged pedophiles. Then, IP addresses were traced to geographically locate the men.
The detective who infiltrated the group, which saw him confronted with horrifying images and vision of children being abused and exploited – some of them babies – received the Rotary Police Officer of the Year award.
The detective who infiltrated the group, which saw him confronted with horrifying images and vision of children being abused and exploited – some of them babies – received the Rotary Police Officer of the Year award.
Ten offenders across Australia, but mainly in New South Wales, were arrested on 73 charges. In addition, Strike Force Packer identified 295 offenders in the United States and 213 more elsewhere internationally.
“It’s investigations like that which demonstrate how widespread our work is,” he said. “You’ve got to have really good working relationships with other law enforcement agencies, not just here, but also internationally.”
The case bore similarities to Strike Force Hank, which was created in late 2021 after investigators discovered a number of men using a telephone chat service to discuss child sexual abuse.
Several raids were conducted of homes across New South Wales and dozens of arrests were made – the most high profile being of former NRL star Brett Finch.
Several raids were conducted of homes across New South Wales and dozens of arrests were made – the most high profile being of former NRL star Brett Finch.
Those taking part in the calls spoke of a desire to engage in the sexual abuse of kids, and some arranged to access child abuse material from other users. “That was similar to Strike Force Parker (in that) it was offenders across the country,” Mr Powderly said.
“The majority of offenders were here in New South Wales. We had about 35 through that particular matter, so we managed it here and also made referrals across the country.”
While Finch’s arrest dominated coverage of the case, Mr Powderly said other offenders included teachers, a swimming instructor, and others working in jobs that gave them close access to children.
In court, Finch admitted to sending seven voice messages to other men on the telephone sex chat service FastMeet, talking about wanting to sexually abuse boys.
In court, Finch admitted to sending seven voice messages to other men on the telephone sex chat service FastMeet, talking about wanting to sexually abuse boys.
He insisted it was part of his desperate attempts to feed a cocaine addiction and not because he was a pedophile – a scheme the judge described as “absurd” but accepted it.
In November 2022, Finch was sentenced to two years imprisonment but it was wholly suspended.
Finch represented the Canberra Raiders, Sydney Roosters, Parramatta Eels and Melbourne Storm throughout a stellar career, during which he scored 66 tries in 270 NRL games.
Mr Powderly said that both Strike Force operations involved every single member of the 24-strong CEIU team.