Since the deaths of two officers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Florida, almost a hundred individuals have been detained in the United States and Australia as part of an investigation into a suspected worldwide pedophile network.
'Operation Bakis' Arrests 98 Individuals
On Tuesday, August 8, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said that detectives had rescued 13 children from life-threatening situations and arrested 19 adults on accusations of distributing child abuse material online. According to NBC News, this takes the total number of arrests made as part of "Operation Bakis," a cooperative endeavor between the AFP and FBI, to 98.
According to the authorities, "Members used software to anonymously share files, chat on message boards, and access websites within the network."
AFP Commander Helen Schneider said some of the suspects may have been committing crimes for as long as ten years, as The Guardian reported. She also noted that the majority of Australian criminals had positions that required an extensive understanding of information and communications technology.
Suspects detained this week remain unidentified at this time. All of them are between the ages of 32 and 81. Two have been convicted thus far, the bureau said.
The suspected perpetrators of the heinous crime of viewing, sharing, and manufacturing child abuse material went to great measures to escape discovery, making them particularly dangerous. Schneider pointed out that the longer they remain undetected, the longer they may continue the cycle of abuse.
"The success of Operation Bakis demonstrates the importance of partnerships for law enforcement, at a national level here in Australia, but also at an international level," Schneider added.
Death of Two FBI Agents Trigger Further Investigation
According to Daily News, the initial spark for the investigation was the shooting murders of FBI agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger as they were about to execute a search warrant at the residence of computer programmer David Lee Huber, who was suspected of spreading child sexual abuse material in Florida. On February 2, 2021, he allegedly used a Ring camera to observe as agents encircled his Sunrise home, at which point he allegedly armed himself and fired shots.
The gunman, who eventually shot and killed himself, hit five agents. He eventually killed New York native Alfin, 36, and Colorado native Schwartzenberger, 43. Both men had been with the FBI since 2005 and had spent their careers in the Albany office.
The incident was the bloodiest day for the FBI since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was also the first occasion since 1986 that numerous FBI agents have been shot and killed while on duty.
"The Federal Bureau of Investigation provided the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation with intelligence about Australian members of a peer-to-peer network allegedly sharing child abuse material on the dark web," police said, triggering an official investigation the following year.
