A policeman holds a thumb drive which is part of seized material collected during the investigating. AP

Gulf Today Report

A tip from US authorities Australia Police busted a major online child abuse ring that’s unprecedented in its scale, charging 16 men, including a childcare worker and a football coach.

Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Justine Gough said that, a childcare worker and a children’s soccer coach were among 16 men arrested in the Australian states of New South Wates, Queensland and Western Australia in recent months on 828 charges of sexually abusing children, producing and distributing child abuse material and bestiality.

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Investigators identified 46 victims in Australia aged 16 months to 15 years.

“No child should be subjected to abuse and violence from the people they trust, whether that is a family member, a childcare worker or a soccer coach,” Gough said. “Sadly and heartbreakingly, this has been the case for the victims” abused in Australia.

Picture shown is for illustrative purposes only.

Police referred 18 “matters” to the United States, where three men have been arrested for multiple offenses related to child abuse material, Gough said.

“It’s a very, very large investigation that we’ve uncovered,” Gough said.

The 27-year-old man has been charged more than 300 offences, including having sexual intercourse with a child under 10, indecent assault of a child under 16 and intentionally sexually touching a child under 10.