Post by admin on Jun 10, 2012 15:50:34 GMT 10
Child sex offenders are posing as children on social networking and gaming sites to lure their victims, Queensland police have warned after making seven arrests involving child porn.
Seven men have been charged with procuring and possessing child pornography following police raids on homes in Strathpine, Blackstone, Sunnybank Hills, Eagleby, Caboolture, Kingston and Marsden last week.
One of the men was posing as a 13-year-old girl online, police say.
Detective Inspector Jon Rouse says there has been an escalation in child sex predators pretending to be children on social networking sites.
"We are now regularly identifying and arresting people that create online accounts and pose as 11- to 13-year-old boys and girls to befriend other young children," Det Insp Rouse said in a statement on Sunday.
"Very quickly, online conversations become sexualised with the offenders sending pornographic images to the children and asking the child to send pictures back.
"What can come next is the worst-case scenario - they try to meet the child."
He urged parents to be vigilant and to teach their child about safe internet use.
The raids resulted in a 42-year-old Blackstone man being charged with two counts of using the internet to procure children and two counts of possessing child exploitation material.
A 27-year-old Strathpine man was also charged with two counts of using the internet to procure a child, while a 35-year-old Sunnybank Hills man is facing two counts of possession of child exploitation material and one count of importation of child pornography.
A 34-year-old Eagleby man has been charged with one count of using the internet to procure a child and two counts of using internet to expose a child, while a 20-year-old Caboolture man is facing four counts of possessing child exploitation material and one count of using a carriage service to access child pornography.
A 50-year-old Kingston man was charged with two counts of using internet to procure a child, and a 47-year-old Marsden man is facing two charges of possession of child exploitation material and one of using a carriage service to access child pornography.