Accused leader of alleged satanic paedophile ring hit with 20 new child abuse and bestiality charges
A man accused of being the leader of an international satanic paedophile ring was dramatically arrested just days after he was released on bail.
Warning: Distressing content
A self-proclaimed “investigative journalist” accused of running a satanic paedophile ring has been hit with 20 new child abuse and bestiality charges after he was arrested for a second time.
The international ring allegedly shared devastating videos of children aged from infancy to 12 being sexually abused online, police have alleged.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Six NSW men, including a former police officer, have been charged over their alleged involvement while investigators have identified an additional 145 people involved across the globe.
The alleged ringleader, Landon Germanotta-Mills, is accused of having possessed troves of child abuse and bestiality material at the time of his arrest last December.
He won a bid for freedom in May after a court granted him conditional bail, but he was back behind bars on remand just days later after allegedly breaching his release conditions.
The dramatic arrest was filmed by a woman and published on social media, showing officers loading Mr Germanotta-Mills into a police car as a tense verbal exchange unfolded between the woman filming and a relative of the accused.
The footage cannot be published in its entirety for legal reasons.
Since being back in custody, Mr Germanotta-Mills has been hit with a further 20 child abuse material and bestiality material charges.
The new charges, laid on Wednesday, bring his number of alleged offences up to 36.
‘Reasons’ for alleged child abuse material
The so-called “investigative journalist” had told police during his initial arrest that he was willing to co-operate if he could “explain reasons” for why more than 200 files of child abuse material (CAM) and 91 of bestiality material were allegedly found on his phones, telling officers he had been working on an article.
“It was on my devices to build a bigger case up … and now that I’m saying it, I’ve realised that I should have sent it straight away to you guys and reported it straight away instead of trying to make my case and build, be a typical journalist to get my story,” he allegedly told police.
It is alleged he stored CAM on at least five cloud and email storage accounts while also possessing CAM on the messaging platforms Signal and Telegram according to court documents seen by NewsWire.
He is further accused of sending CAM during an exchange on Telegram, and sending a series of “offensive” messages to multiple users on the app.
Crown prosecutors have previously alleged Mr Germanotta-Mills used storage platforms to store and share more than 6800 files of CAM and animal abuse between October 2023 and November 2025.
One of those accounts was used to join a chat called “boys mega link exchange” which had 97 other participants and was used to receive CAM.
Mr Germanotta-Mills worked as an independent journalist for Underground Media Network until the time of his arrest in December and previously spent time as a production assistant at Network 10 between 2015 and 2017 according to his LinkedIn profile.
Now back in custody, he is facing 11 counts of using a carriage service to make child abuse available, 11 of possessing child abuse data, six of transmitting child abuse matter to himself, four of using a carriage service to menace/harass/offend, two counts of possessing bestiality material, and one each of using a carriage service to solicit CAM and disseminating bestiality material.
He is also charged with allegedly breaching his bail conditions, while two additional bestiality and CAM charges are expected to be withdrawn.
‘Symbols and rituals’: Horrific details of alleged paedo ring
Referrals are being made to law enforcement agencies in Australia, USA, Canada, Mexico, Europe, New Zealand, South America, and Southeast Asia in relation to the alleged ring, police said in February.
NSW sex crime squad commander Jane Doherty previously said the videos involved in the case were “particularly devastating” and used “symbols and rituals”.
Horrific details were earlier revealed during a bail hearing for Colin Milne, who is among those charged over the alleged paedophile ring.
“The (alleged) facts reveal extremely graphic, violent and depraved nature of the child abuse material found on the accused’s devices, including videos depicting infants, babies and children … and real adults,” a prosecutor told the court during Mr Milne’s bail hearing in February.
“Having read the (alleged) statement of facts – which detail unfortunately in some significant way the content of the videos – I can say that they are concerning and horrific.
“In somewhat nearly 20 years of sitting as a judicial officer I haven’t read many worse than this, quite frankly.
“It’s the depravity of the material that I have real concerns in terms of the most vulnerable in our community and for their safety, quite frankly.”
The 62-year-old lost his fight for freedom in February, which he’d sought over fears he would be “bashed” in custody, but has since been granted bail in May.
Mr Milne is charged with nine counts of using a carriage service to make child abuse available, two of using a carriage service to access CAM, two of disseminating bestiality material, one of possessing animal crush material, one of possessing a prohibited drug, one of participating in a criminal group and contributing to criminal activity, and two of contravening an order.
Mark Andrew Sendecky, Stuart Woods Riches, Benjamin Raymond Drysdale and former police officer sergeant David Turner have also been accused of being involved in the paedophile ring.
Mr Sendecky, 45, is facing a single charge of possessing child abuse data using a carriage service, with additional charges of using a carriage service to access CAM and possessing CAM expected to be withdrawn.
Mr Riches, 40, is facing one count each of possessing bestiality material, using a carriage service to procure a person aged under 16 for sexual activity, using a carriage service to make child abuse available, and using a carriage service to solicit CAM.
He is also facing two counts of possessing child abuse data using a carriage service, two of possessing a prohibited drug, six counts of failing to comply with reporting obligations, and two counts of using a carriage service to menace/harass/offend.
A charge of possessing CAM and another of using a carriage service to access CAM are due to be withdrawn.
Mr Drysdale, 47, is facing one count of using a carriage service to make child abuse available, two counts of using a carriage service to menace/harass/offend, two counts of failing to comply with reporting obligations, and two counts of contravening a prohibition order, and one count of possessing a prohibited drug.
Mr Turner, 42, is facing two counts each of using a carriage service to access CAM and possessing a prohibited drug, and one count each of using a carriage service to make child abuse available and possessing bestiality material.
None of the six NSW men have yet entered pleas. They all remain before the courts.
If you or someone you know needs help, contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), or Sexual Assault Counselling Australia on 1800 211 028, the WA Sexual Assault Resource Centre on 6458 1828 or 1800 199 888 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
