How a ‘vigilante journalist’ who vowed to expose institutional abuse in Australia is now accused of running a satanic child abuse cult – as new details emerge after his arrest
An ‘investigative journalist’ who pledged to report on child protection and expose institutional abuse is accused of controlling child abuse material in a satanic cult for two years before police swooped.
Landon Ashton Versace Germanotta-Mills, 26, was arrested at his government-owned unit in Waterloo on Thursday and hit with a string of charges relating to the possession and distribution of bestiality and child sexual abuse material.
His arrest, along with three others, was the result of a police investigation into the online distribution of child sexual abuse material involving ritualistic or satanic themes.
Germanotta-Mills had positioned himself as a vigilante reporter from about March this year when he launched the underground Media Network, which is a Substack blog with a number of posts about alleged police corruption and alleged paedophiles.
The Lady Gaga superfan was ‘committed to exposing institutional abuse, systemic failures, and the misuse of power’, according to the blog’s ‘about’ section.
‘The platform is survivor-led, trauma-informed, and legally aware – built by and for those impacted by the systems we investigate,’ it read.
‘We do not sensationalise, retraumatise, or exploit. Lived experience is treated with dignity, not as a headline.’
He also promised to ‘prioritise stories often ignored or sidelined by mainstream media, including those deemed too risky, too complex, or too politically sensitive’, but a number of posts appeared to come straight from mainstream news sites.
Now, court document seen by the Daily Mail show Germanotta-Mills was allegedly transmitting lewd material involving animals and children well before he started publishing Substack posts about other alleged abusers.
Landon Ashton Versace Germanotta-Mills (pictured) positioned himself as a vigilante journalist
The 26-year-old was arrested on Thursday (pictured)
Landon Ashton Versace Germanotta-Mills is pictured being loaded into a police van on Thursday
According to the documents, he was allegedly storing and controlling child abuse material on an electronic storage device from about October 2023.
In one post, he falsely accused the former NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb of stopping a 12-year-old girl from pursuing a rape complaint because there wasn’t enough evidence.
Germanotta-Mills wrote in April about the girl’s trauma and how her life was forever changed.
A month earlier, he had allegedly been possessing or controlling child abuse material with his phone, and again a month later, according to the documents.
In July, he wrote a story about a police officer who allegedly had 200,000 images of child abuse and claimed the officer was part of an ‘entrenched cultural pattern’.
‘A pattern of institutional betrayal that privileges secrecy, reputational protection, and internal shielding over the safety of children and the public’s right to know,’ he wrote.
He also said the matter raised questions about individual accountability and the infrastructure that allowed ‘such alleged conduct to go undetected and unchallenged for so long’.
Landon Ashton Versace Germanotta-Mills was allegedly in possession of child abuse material from 2023
Landon Ashton Versace Germanotta-Mills (pictured) was charged with 26 offences relating to bestiality and child abuse material
Germanotta-Mills wrote the story in July, when court documents allege he was disseminating bestiality and controlling child abuse material.
His full list of charges include one count each of accessing child abuse material and possessing bestiality, seven counts of using a carriage service to make child abuse available, and three counts of possessing child abuse data-use carriage service.
Further charges include two counts of disseminating bestiality material and possessing bestiality material.
All charges relate to alleged incidents that took place between October 10, 2023, and November 27 – the day before his arrest.
The Daily Mail previously revealed Germanotta-Mills claims on social media and LinkedIn to have graduated from Knox Grammar School – an elite, $42,000 a year Sydney boys’ school.
However, a spokesperson for the school told the Daily Mail there are no records of him ever attending the institution.
He also changed his last name from Mills to pay tribute to his favourite artist, Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, and was supposed to see her live in concert in Queensland for his birthday on December 9.
Germanotta-Mills faced court on Friday and was refused bail. He is set to appear in the Downing Centre on January 29.
