The Ghana Police Service, in collaboration with the Australian Federal Police and INTERPOL, has arrested three Ghanaian suspects linked to the production and circulation of indecent images and videos involving children in the Ashanti and Bono Regions.
The operation, described by investigators as part of an international crackdown on child sexual exploitation, also led to the rescue of four children aged between six and thirteen years.
According to the Police, the suspects were arrested for allegedly taking, producing, publishing and processing indecent images, photographs and videos of children contrary to Section 62(1)(a), (b), (c) and (d) of the Cyber Security Act, 2020 (Act 1038).
Police investigations began in January 2026 after INTERPOL Accra received intelligence from INTERPOL Canberra in Australia and the Crimes Against Children Unit of the INTERPOL General Secretariat. The intelligence was shared by the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation’s Victim Identification Team.
Investigators say the intelligence report revealed that an Australian suspect, arrested in 2025 and currently standing trial in Australia, allegedly received child sexual exploitation material from facilitators based in Ghana.
Authorities further established that the Australian suspect transferred money to the Ghana-based facilitators in exchange for exploitative content involving children in Ghana. Australian authorities subsequently requested assistance from the Ghana Police Service to rescue the victims and apprehend the suspects connected to the operation.
A joint investigative team made up of officers from INTERPOL Accra and the Child Digital Forensics and Cybercrime Unit, under the supervision of the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department, COP Lydia Yaako Donkor, launched operations that led to the arrest of two suspects in the Ashanti Region and the rescue of two child victims aged between seven and thirteen years.
Further investigations in the Bono Region resulted in the arrest of another suspect and the rescue of two additional victims aged six and seven years.
All three suspects are currently in police custody assisting investigations, while the rescued children are receiving care and psychosocial support from the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit, DOVVSU, in their respective regions.
The NGO, Abuse Relief Corps, is also supporting DOVVSU in providing care, counselling and protection for the victims.
Police say the case highlights a growing and deeply disturbing trend in which child sexual exploitation crimes are increasingly facilitated through technology and cross-border criminal networks.
The Police Administration disclosed that some of the suspects in the ongoing investigation are close relatives of the victims, including an older brother and a mother who were expected by law to protect and care for the children.
The Ghana Police Service has warned that child sexual abuse remains a serious criminal offence punishable by a fine of not more than five thousand penalty units, a prison term of up to ten years, or both.
Authorities also cautioned that these crimes continue to rise because they are financially rewarding to perpetrators, relatively easy to commit online, and often difficult to detect without international intelligence cooperation.
The Police Administration says it is intensifying collaboration with international law enforcement agencies and stakeholders to combat child exploitation and cyber-enabled abuse.
Police further announced plans to roll out nationwide sensitisation programmes and establish additional cybercrime and child protection units across the regions to strengthen the fight against child exploitation and online abuse.
Investigators say the operation sends a strong message that Ghana will continue working with global partners to track, arrest and prosecute individuals involved in crimes that endanger the safety, dignity and future of children.
By Peter Quao Adattor/paqmediagh
