Airdate: The Children in the Pictures

Upcoming SBS documentary The Children in the Pictures goes inside Task Force Argos, a world-renowned Australian-based police investigative team dedicated to rescuing children from online sexual abuse.

Produced by DNX Media this marks the eighth stand-alone documentary in SBS’s Australia Uncovered strand.

Director Akhim Dev said: “About eight years ago, I was interviewing a Long Bay prisoner who told me about the existence of massive online criminal networks devoted to the sexual abuse of children. I soon realised this wasn’t just the product of some fertile jail-bound imagination: there was actually a heaving community celebrating and exchanging vast quantities of child sexual abuse material on the dark web. Determined to find out how the police were trying to catch these criminals, I reached out to Task Force Argos. I had no idea the Argos team had actually taken over and were covertly running the largest child abuse network on the dark web…For those children in the pictures and the extraordinary police officers trying to rescue them, I knew this story had to be told.”

Director and Co-Producer Simon Nasht said: “When Akhim Dev walked into my office and told me about these online child sexual abuse networks, I didn’t really believe him. The sheer scale and complexity was staggering, and the brutality of the content was shocking. In all my years as a filmmaker and a storyteller, this was the biggest story I had never heard of… Despite its grim subject, The Children in the Pictures is ultimately an uplifting and powerful story. Every day, these extraordinary heroes observe the very worst in human nature, and in doing so, represent the very best of humanity. They are selflessly fighting to save our most vulnerable citizens: our children.”

Led by the determined Detective Inspector Jon Rouse, the Argos team spends every waking moment sifting through vast quantities of child sexual abuse materials, searching for vital clues that could help them rescue the young victims. From infiltrating global criminal networks to hunting down the world’s worst abusers, this expert team of investigators has one of the toughest, but most rewarding jobs in the world. Their work shines a light on the dark reality of online child sexual abuse and the fight we face in stopping it.

The documentary will be available to stream on SBS On Demand with subtitles in five languages: Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean, allowing more Australians to engage with this important topic. The Australia Uncovered strand will also be available with audio description for blind or vision-impaired audiences.

The Children in the Pictures is a DNX Media production for SBS. Principal production investment from Screen Australia. Developed and produced with support from Film Victoria.

8:30pm Sunday 24 October on SBS.