ADELAIDE – A notorious Australian pedophile who ran one of the world’s biggest child abuse networks gives evidence to a Danish court against a man alleged to have helped him administer the online forum.
Adelaide man Shannon McCoole (pictured) was last year sentenced to 35 years in jail for sexually abusing vulnerable children in his care and for running an abuse site on the dark net with 45,000 members worldwide.
McCoole is now in protective custody and under 24-hour surveillance in Adelaide’s Yatala Labour Prison.
The 33-year-old last month testified from the prison by videolink in a case that has sent shockwaves around Denmark.
A 48-year-old Dane — known only as “TL” — is accused of abusing four children and of helping McCoole administer the global child abuse forum. TL has denied being a senior figure in the network, saying he only had a minor role.
“The prosecutor believes the Danish guy was a co-administrator of this very big pedophile network that Shannon McCoole was convicted of being a part of,” said Janni Pedersen, a reporter with Denmark’s TV2 News who has been covering the case.
“This is a big case here in Denmark … it was quite a big thing having McCoole via videolink.”
