Suicide after porn crackdown

2004-10-02 20:13

Sydney - At least two men have killed themselves after being questioned as part of a massive crackdown on child pornography in Australia, police said on Saturday.

The deaths followed a series of raids which led to the arrest of more than 200 people accused of downloading child pornography from the internet.

Suspects included police officers, teachers and doctors.

Police in Victoria state said the bodies of two men being investigated were found on Friday and the deaths were not being treated as suspicious.

"Victoria Police can confirm that two men have died after being the subject of separate police inquiries," a police spokesperson said.

She said one of the dead men was questioned by officers from the police taskforce investigating child porn, codenamed Operation Auxin.

The Sydney Morning Herald said the second man, a prison officer, had been questioned as part of a separate child pornography investigation.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said a Queensland state police officer killed himself last month after being questioned in the early stages of Operation Auxin's investigations.

It said the body of another man, named in the Herald as electrician Kim Della-Vedova, was found on Friday after he failed to appear in court.

Police have said 500 people could face charges as a result of the investigation and Prime Minister John Howard has offered to introduce tougher legislation if needed to stamp out child pornography.

The Australian investigation followed a tip-off from US authorities about a child porn network operating about 20 pay-to-view websites originating in eastern Europe and run by crime groups.

- AFP