WA Police said the families of three teenagers saved from continuing alleged child sex abuse online were unaware of the activity.

“Sadly unfortunately by the nature of the internet, it’s a pervasive beast, and it’s certainly changing the way we approach our response to sex crime,” Detective Superintendent Gordon Fairman from the Sex Crime Division told Liam Bartlett on 6PR Mornings.

WA Police and AFP officers arrested 45 alleged offenders in the biggest operation targeting child exploitation in Australian history, executing 61 search warrants and 149 charges related to child exploitation material.

Superintendent Glyn Lewis, from the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation at the AFP, said children as young as six are being caught eliciting sexual material that was filmed of themselves by themselves.

“It is surprising because most of these apps require you to be 12 or over before you can actually sign up to them … and it really concerns that parents aren’t aware of what they’re children are doing online,” he told Bartlett.