Detective accused of sex crime

2004-10-07 09:31

Sydney - A senior detective in an Australian child sex crimes squad was suspended on Thursday after being caught up in a massive nationwide crackdown on child pornography, officials said.

In another development police announced that two more men targeted in the anti-pornography operation had committed suicide, bringing to six the number of suspects who have killed themselves in the past two weeks.

More than 200 men have already been charged with child sex offences since federal and local police began raiding properties across Australia as part of a global operation against internet child pornography linked to organised crime in Eastern Europe.

New South Wales (NSW) police announced on Thursday that the senior detective constable in the state's Child Protection Sex Crimes Squad and a lower-ranking constable from Sydney had been suspended for allegedly possessing child pornography.

'Devastated'

NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney said he was "devastated" by the accusations against the two policemen, particularly as the detective was responsible for protecting children from sexual abuse.

"I must indicate that the mere fact that NSW officers have been allegedly found in possession of child pornography is in itself devastating to me as the commissioner of police," he said.

Internal affairs investigators seized home computers and other materials belonging to the two officers, but no charges have yet been laid against them, he said.

Police later revealed two NSW men, aged 31 and 55, who were under investigation as part of the anti-pornography operation had killed themselves over the past few days.

The suicides come after four other suspects from other states took their lives last week.

The head of the NSW child sex crimes squad, Kim McKay, said investigators were now giving suspects contact numbers for counselling services in an effort to avert further suicides.

- AFP