The Ghana Police Service, has revealed that following a coordinated international operation with the Australian Federal Police and Interpol, it has apprehended three Ghanaian nationals for their involvement in a child sexual exploitation ring operating within the Ashanti and Bono regions.
The suspects face charges related to the production, publication, and processing of indecent images and videos involving children, as stipulated under Section 62(1) of the Cyber Security Act, 2020 (Act 1038).
The Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service, Commissioner of Police (COP) Lydia Yaako Donkor, at a press conference, stated that investigations began in January this year, following a detailed intelligence report transmitted from Interpol Canberra and the Crimes Against Children Unit of the Interpol General Secretariat to INTERPOL Accra.
The report originated from investigations conducted by the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation’s Victim Identification Team.
This intelligence revealed that an Australian offender, who was arrested in 2025 and is currently on trial, had been receiving illicit material from facilitators based in Ghana.
Financial records confirmed that the Australian offender had transferred funds to these facilitators in exchange for the production of exploitation material featuring Ghanaian children.
In response to a formal request from Australian authorities, the Ghana Police Service launched a targeted investigation overseen by the Director General of the CID.
A specialized team, comprising officers from Interpol Accra and the Child Digital Forensics and Cybercrime Unit, tracked the suspects through digital and financial footprints.
The first phase of the operation took place in the Ashanti Region, where officers arrested two suspects and successfully rescued two victims aged between 7 and 13 years.
Continuing the pursuit into the Bono Region, the team arrested a third suspect and rescued two additional victims, aged 6 and 7 years.
The investigation revealed a distressing breach of trust, as the suspects were found to be close relatives of the children they were exploiting.
Specifically, the offenders included an older brother and a mother.
Currently, the three suspects remain in police custody while investigations continue.
The four rescued children have been placed under the care of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) in their respective regions.
To ensure their recovery, the Abuse Relief Corps, a local NGO, is collaborating with DOVVSU to provide necessary psychological and social support.
COP Donkor noted a rising trend in cyber-enabled crimes, attributing the increase to the relative ease of commission, the difficulty of detection, and the financial incentives involved.
She also remind the public that child sexual abuse is a criminal offence punishable by a fine of not more than five thousand penalty units which is equivalent to GH₵60,000, or a term of imprisonment of not more than ten years, or both.
In response to these emerging threats, the Police Administration is preparing to establish additional cyber-crime and child protection units across all regions and will soon launch a national sensitization programme.
