Child porn accused denied bail

Police say a former police officer, a trainee school teacher and a swimming instructor are among six men charged over their alleged roles in a child pornography syndicate.

Gregory John Minehan, 38, from South West Rocks on the NSW north coast and 51-year-old David Elliott from Orange, in the state's central west, have been refused bail after appearing in court this morning.

They are among the six men charged by police as the result of an 11-month undercover operation into a network which allegedly produced and distributed images of child pornography over the internet.

Police say the fact that a number of those charged were in positions of trust in the community is a frightening discovery.

"It doesn't need to be the person that was wearing the raincoat in the park any more, these are normal people in our community. We need to be vigilant," Kevin Zuccato of the Australian Federal Police said.

They are warning all parents to monitor their children when they are using the internet.

Police say thousands of images have been found during raids on several properties, and they are yet to examine other computers and discs that were discovered.

Most of the men arrested were from regional NSW, one was from Victoria and the other from Queensland.

One of them faces drug-related charges.

'Nowhere to hide'

Police say the discovery serves as a warning to potential offenders that police are monitoring their movements.

Agent Zuccato, from the AFP's High Tech Crime Operations, says offenders can not hide behind the anonymity of the internet.

"We've demonstrated over the last couple of days that we can gain their trust, we can infiltrate their networks, and we can take them down," he said.

"So the message from us, quite clearly, is if you think you're anonymous on the internet, think again, because the people you may be talking to may very well be the police."