Tighter porn laws under consideration: Govt
The federal Communications Minister says a re-elected Coalition government would look at strengthening laws against publishing child pornography, in the wake of recent arrests.

Almost 200 people nationwide have been charged in the largest crackdown on child pornography in Australia.

Communications Minister Helen Coonan says the Government has committed $30 million to combat child pornography.

However, she says there is still room to move.

"If the police, as a result of the investigation that is currently going on, do identify where we might be able to strengthen it we certainly be looking at that," she said.

Labor's communications spokeswoman, Kate Lundy, has told the ABC TV's Lateline that the Government has taken too long to provide the Australian Federal Police with much-needed resources to deal with the problem.

"And we need to do more," she said. "This example will show that more should be done."

Senator Lundy says there should be more focus on educating parents.

"Labor that has long argued that parents need to be supported about their education of the Internet," she said.

"It's only been in this last year or so that the Coalition Government has actually turned their mind towards funding an education campaign aimed at parents and other Internet users.

"It's been a long time coming and it's nice to see that the Howard Government is once again following Labor's lead."

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How the accused should be treated and how should they be punished?

ABC NEWS (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200410/s1211733.htm)

Four suicides in child porn case

Four men commit suicide after being investigated during Australia's biggest-ever operation against child porn.

One of them was a police officer who had been charged with possessing child abuse computer games.

Since it began on Thursday, Operation Auxin has seen more than 200 arrests in raids on more than 400 premises.

It follows an investigation in the US that uncovered international paedophile networks trading images online.

More than a million images have been seized across Australia during the operation.

Detectives said some of the material involved children as young as two years old.

The dead police officer was from Queensland state. One of the suicides took place in Western Australia, with the other two - one a prisoner officer - taking place in Victoria state.

'Regrettable'

Justice Minister Chris Ellison said more arrests were expected this week and up to 500 people could be charged with offences.

"It's regrettable that four people, the subject of charges, have taken their own lives," he told reporters.

"But this investigation is an extremely important one dealing with criminal activity which deals with the violation of innocent children.

"This will not deter, in any way, the investigation."

Some of those charged have already been appearing in court, including a 33-year-old married schoolteacher in Sydney charged with 22 child pornography offences.

The teacher, whose name has not been disclosed, is accused of a variety of offences including setting up a video camera behind a school changing room mirror to film children.

Meanwhile 11 other men - including at least two teachers - are facing charges in Perth connected with internet pornography.

Three childcare centres in Victoria have been placed in the hands of an administrator, because their owner faces pornography charges.

Download details

The Australian crackdown is part of a worldwide investigation, spearheaded by the US customs service and also involving Interpol.

The investigation started last year as a result of US intelligence based on information from a network of internet sites in Russia and eastern Europe.

Kyle Hutchins, the special agent in charge of the US investigation, said he was able to give names of suspected offenders to Australian officials, as well as "locations, credit card information and then what exactly these people actually downloaded''.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has promised new legislation, if needed, to fight child pornography on the internet.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3709352.stm

Trainee priest faces sex charges

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A Polish student at a Roman Catholic priests' training college in Austria has been charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.
The charges follow an inquiry into the sex scandal in St Poelten, west of Vienna, which has shocked Austria.

A state prosecutor said images of child pornography and violent pornography were found on the college's main computer and the student's hard drive.

If found guilty, the student could face two years in prison.

St Poelten state prosecutor, Walter Nemec, said in a statement that the material downloaded on the main computer could not be traced to an individual as all the students used the same password.

But they said they could rule out the Polish student as the one who had accessed the images on the main computer.

Prank

The images are also reported to include pictures of students kissing and fondling each other and their older instructors.

Mr Nemec said the police investigation had focused only on the child pornography aspect of the case, as "homosexual relations between consenting adults not involving the abuse of an authority relationship" was not a crime in Austria.

The bishop in charge of the diocese, Kurt Krenn, has dismissed the images as a "schoolboy prank" and rejected calls for his resignation.

Mr Krenn's spokesman told the Austria Press Agency that the Polish student had been expelled and investigations were under way to see if others were involved.

Both the director and deputy head of the seminary have resigned.

BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3906837.stm):