Porn

The arrest of 13 Queensland men on child porn charges shows how hard it is to protect children from sexual predators, police say.

A teacher, church minister, unemployed preschool teacher and a man certified to work with children are among those arrested and charged as part of a Queensland police operation codenamed Stingray.

The operation was part of the long-running Taskforce Argos - an anti-child exploitation project.

Since the operation's launch in May, 28 search warrants were executed in south-east Queensland, leading to the 13 arrests and the seizure of more than 800,000 pornographic images and videos.

"These are not images of children frolicking on the beach," Acting Superintendent Peter Crawford told reporters in Brisbane.

"We are talking here about the serious images of children being sexually abused.

"There are victims behind every image and it is our responsibility to try an identify these victims."

All but three of the 13 men have appeared in court, charged with possession, distribution and production of child exploitation images.

Another four are the subject of further inquiries by police.