The work of Australian police led to the arrest in the Philippines of one of Europe's most-wanted child-abuse offenders.
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The Filipino man is accused of filming children being sexually abused by an adult then selling videos of the attacks online.
Officials said in a news conference in Manila that Nelson Torayno was arrested in April in central Cebu city with thousands of images and videos of children being sexually abused by an adult.
The arrest was only disclosed on Thursday to allow further investigations, and officials said eight children have been rescued and returned to their families.
Australian police, the UK National Crime Agency and a non-government group, the International Justice Mission, backed Philippine efforts to track down and arrest the 32-year-old Torayno, who is now facing charges, according to a joint statement.
Torayno was one of Europol's top suspects "due to his notoriety and proliferation in producing horrendous child exploitation material and posting that in dark web chat rooms where it was circulated amongst pedophile rings", Australian Federal Police liaison officer Graeme Marshall said, referring to the European Union's law enforcement agency .
Janet Francisco, who heads the Anti-Human Trafficking Division of Manila's National Bureau of Investigation said Torayno's arrest underscored how international collaboration works to snare such an offender.
"Certainly, there are others like him out there waiting for the opportunity to prey on helpless children but one thing is more certain, that we are likewise waiting for the opportunity to get them," Francisco said.
Australian Associated Press
