Dark Web Pedophilia Bust

Nearly 100 people have been arrested in the US and Australia as part of a dark web child abuse investigation, including 79 in the US and 19 in Australia, and 13 children have been rescued. The suspects in Australia are between the ages of 32 and 81, with many in careers that require a high degree of IT knowledge.

The news comes more than two years after FBI Special Agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger—who were part of the 2015 takedown of Playpen—were fatally shot as they attempted to serve a search warrant at an apartment in Sunrise, Florida, for a man suspected of being in possession of child abuse material. Dubbed Operation Bakis, the investigation was formally launched last year when the FBI provided Australian authorities with information about a child abuse network on the dark web.

Over 80% of dark web traffic was found to relate to illegal porn, abuse images, or child sex abuse material. See why it’s hard to stop the spread of the material here.