“It’s like a Tsunami”: Reports of Child Exploitation Material Have Doubled Since 2018

The number of online child exploitation reports to the Australian Federal Police has more than doubled since 2018 – with more than 36,500 reports in the last year alone.  

The nature and scale of this abuse has been likened to a tsunami by the head of Queensland Task Force Agros Inspector John Rouse.   

Speaking to Akhim Dev, the host of the Listnr podcast “The Children in the Pictures”, Inspector John Rouse describes the enormity of what is happening online as unchartered territory.  

“It’s just a wave that hits you every single day that you come in.” 

The Children in the Pictures follows Australian police as they investigate online child exploitation.  

Assisted by Task Force Argos, a specialised Queensland police investigation unit dedicated to the abuse of children, the podcast shines a light on the dark reality of notorious online child abuse and the fight we all face to stop it.  

The first two episodes are available now and follow how the unit infiltrated a highly organised online child exploitation site: The Love Zone.  

Argos boss John Rouse described the discovery of the site as unchartered territory. 

“’The Love Zone,’ was really for me anyway, was my first tipping my toe into the water into the dark web,” he said. 

Argos discovered the criminal network had over 45,000 registered members and worked just like a corporate organisation. 

To hear how the Argos team infiltrated the world’s largest criminal online child abuse ring, listen to Listnr’s "The Children in the Pictures".