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     The head of the squad, Detective Senior Sergeant Chris O'Connor, said tough
     anti-pornography laws in Victoria had driven "kiddie porn" out of Melbourne's
     adult bookshops and on to the Internet.

     Police have charged a number of people with Internet-related crimes. In one
     case, a computer hard-drive seized by detectives was found to contain several
     thousand sexual images of children.

     "Every one of those images is a living memory of child sexual assault. We
     should not be desensitised to the seriousness of the material," said Senior
     Sergeant O'Connor.

     Police estimate there may be 2000 paedophiles in Victoria, many of whom use
     the Internet to obtain child pornography. The Federal Government last week
     passed legislation to regulate the Internet but computer lawyers and industry
     experts believe the laws will be ineffective.

     Senior Sergeant O'Connor, who has helped write a book, Rockspider, about
     the dangers of paedophilia, said each child molester was capable of ruining
     many young lives.

     Nearly all are men who will go to extraordinary lengths to get access to
     children - even entering into defacto relationships with single or separated
     mothers.

     Police have expressed concern about the latest technology that allows live
     video feed to paedophiles who are able to interact in real time and direct the
     molestation of a child.

     They are also alarmed by a practice known as "morphing" where paedophiles
     transfer pictures of a celebrity on to a computer model.

     The State Government is expected to consider whether there is a need for new
     laws to deal with offenders who collect enormous amounts of child
     pornography on the Internet.