12:00a.m. 7th September 2007

| By Amy Remeikis

A Maroochydore teacher was among 13 men caught in one of the states biggest investigations into child pornography.

The 29-year-old was charged with both possessing and making child pornography and faced Maroochydore Magistrates Court in June.

He was one of the men targeted during Operation Stingray which began in May and involved investigators from across the entire south-east working in conjunction with the state crime operations command Taskforce Argos.

Police acted on tips received from similar investigations in the United States and Europe, as well as from information gathered during their own investigations.

Investigations into a 50-year-old Caloundra man and a 62-year-old Golden Beach pensioner are still being carried out.

More than 800,000 sickening images and movies featuring child exploitation were seized during the operation as well as 12 computers, two laptops, 85 CDs, 27 floppy discs, 25 hard drives, 23 memory sticks and a modem.

Drugs were also found in one of the raided homes.

A 68-year-old church minister from the Gold Coast Hinterland was among those charged.

He faced the Southport Magistrates Court in July on possessing, accessing and making child exploitation material.

One month later and an unemployed pre-school teacher from Cleveland was facing court for using a phone line to access child porn.

Other men charged worked as builders, supervisors, engineers and salesmen, including one man who held a Blue Card.

The youngest was 19-years-old and the eldest 68-years-old.

One of the detectives in charge of the operation, Acting Superintendent Peter Crawford said investigations into the making, distribution, viewing and possession of child exploitation material would continue to be a priority.

He refused to accept that that owning or distributing child porn was a victimless crime.

“People who use the internet to collect and distribute these images extend the degradation of children and add a profit motive to their exploitation,” he said.

“Task Force Argos, in partnership with other law enforcement agencies, will continue to place strong emphasis on detecting and prosecuting offenders who prey on the vulnerability of children by accessing the internet to satisfy their own sick obsessions.”