NZ kids among US online exploitation victims

WELLINGTON - New Zealand Police said Wednesday they had rescued two boys, aged 12 and 13, from an international Internet child exploitation group after a tip-off from the US authorities.

The information was obtained as part of Operation Roundtable, a US investigation into a child exploitation website that was managed from the United States for about a year until June last year.

"The New Zealand Police received information from United States authorities that New Zealand children had been victimized by a US-based online child exploitation group," Detective Senior Sergeant John Michael said in a statement.

"We subsequently identified two young male victims in New Zealand, aged 12 and 13, that had been exploited and were able to take steps to ensure their safety."

The high level of cooperation in Operation Roundtable demonstrated the willingness of international law enforcement agencies to combat online child exploitation, he said.

US officials have reportedly arrested and charged 14 suspects in relation to the website, which had 27,000 subscribers.

Investigators had identified 250 victims, aged from 10 to 17, most of them from the United States, but 23 came from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Belgium and Britain.