Police in Australia have arrested four Sydney men linked to an international “satanic” child abuse and porn racket, officials said on Monday. Detectives from New South Wales State Police identified the network while probing online distribution of encrypted child porn involving “ritualistic and occult themes”.

The arrests, which took place last Thursday, saw the men charged with possessing, distributing, and facilitating “deplorable” child abuse material through a website. This website was administered internationally.

Sex Crimes Squad Detective Superintendent Jayne Doherty spoke to reporters about the disturbing nature of the material.

Doherty stressed that while all child abuse is abhorrent, these cases were “particularly devastating”.

Occult, bestiality were their ‘themes’

She said the international group was sharing material depicting child abuse and the torture of children involving symbols and rituals linked to “satanism and the occult”.

Among those arrested is 26-year-old Landon Germanotta-Mills. Police allege that Germanotta-Mills played a leading role in the ring. He was charged with 14 offences. The other three suspects are Stuart Woods Riches, 39, Mark Andrew Sendecky, 42, and Benjamin Raymond Drysdale, 46.

Germanotta-Mills was also charged with disseminating and possessing bestiality material — of sex between a human being and an animal.

On videos, abuse of babies to 12-year-olds

Thousands of abuse videos were found on their seized devices. The videos reportedly depicted the abuse of children ranging in age from babies up to 12 years old.

“Due to the nature of the material that they were sharing and the conversations that we became aware of, we were concerned about any children that these people might come in contact with as a result of that,” the detective explained.

She said police are collaborating to identify and rescue victims as quickly as possible.

Who recorded the videos?

Police currently do not believe that these four men recorded any of the abuse material they shared. As of Monday, authorities had not yet verified where the material originated from. Furthermore, no victim had been identified from the horrific videos.

Police are currently collaborating closely with their international partners, said officials.

Their focus is on identifying the victims, establishing where the abuse occurred, and tracking down the original abusers.

All four men have been refused bail. They remain in custody awaiting their next court appearance, scheduled in late January.

(with inputs from news agencies AP and AFP)