By Aneeka Simonis
NUDE and sexually explicit images of students from schools in Pakenham and Berwick are reportedly being swapped and traded between international online predators on a porn site.
Students from Pakenham Secondary College, Lakeside College in Pakenham and Kambrya College in Berwick were among more than 70 schools believed to have been targeted on the site which reportedly includes details about the victims including their full name and home address.
The site is reported to have a function enabling predators to search for graphic images based on a specific school or region.
Lakeside College Principal David Spike said the school was “shocked and distressed” to discover the school had been named on the site.
Mr Spike said the school has no evidence to suggest any students’ images have been published on the site but said all students were made to attend a meeting to discuss the issue on Wednesday 17 August and were also told that counselling services were on hand for anyone affected.
Pakenham Secondary College Principal Ray Squires said the school will be revisiting its cyber-safety education programs in the wake of the incident.
“The safety and wellbeing of students is my top priority and I have been working with staff to ensure support is available for any affected students and their families,” Mr Squires said.
Kambrya College’s Principal Michael Muscat said internal investigations have so far not been able to establish that any of its students are on the site.
“We are aware that a former student who graduated some years ago made a comment on the website thread and named our school.
“However, no other comments or concerns regarding our students have been reported,” Mr Muscat said.
The Education Department confirmed it was aware of the site and was helping police with inquiries.
The Federal Police Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (JACET) is investigating and trying to shut down the overseas porn ring which runs the site.
“Police urge people to be aware when posting and sharing photos on social media as they can spread quickly and sometimes be impossible to remove,” a police spokesperson said.
More than 2000 images of girls and women are thought to have been posted or traded by Australian online users.
All schools said they would cooperate with police investigations.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
