Australian police file hundreds of sex abuse charges against seven people

Australian police have charged seven people with more than 100 child sex abuse offences, including the rape of three boys under eight, they said in a statement. Police, announcing kidnap, sexual assault, child pornography and common assault charges, said the accused acted as a group, knew the boys and abused them between 2014 and 2016.

A court order suppressing details of the case was lifted on Thursday. The seven, five women and two men, were arrested in suburbs in Sydney's west and in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, 80 km (50 miles) west of the city, on Monday and were being held without bail, police said.

One of the men, aged 18, was charged with 42 offences, including kidnapping and sexual intercourse with a child under 10. The second man, aged 52, faces three sex assault charges, among other suspected offences, police said. The four women, who range in age between 17 and 29, face kidnapping, assault and child pornography charges. The seven pleaded not guilty in court on Tuesday, their lawyer said.

The content/reporting displayed on our website www.mid-day.com is provided "AS-IS," "AS AVAILABLE, by us from third party, agencies, sources, without any verification from our side. It may contain error, bugs and other limitations. The reader's can rely on the content at their own will. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, data, text, images, video, messages, or any other material whatsoever or for any claims/loss/action that the reader may suffer as a result of relying on the content on our site. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai, National and International news here

Download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go