An accused paedophile from Australia has been arrested amid the coronavirus lockdowns in Italy nine years after being charged, and following an ABC investigation that discovered him living in a seaside resort town.

Key points: The 75-year-old was arrested north-east of Venice this week at the request of Australian authorities

The 75-year-old was arrested north-east of Venice this week at the request of Australian authorities Mr Batham is accused of raping and indecently recording young girls while living in WA's Kimberley region

Mr Batham is accused of raping and indecently recording young girls while living in WA's Kimberley region He is yet to face the charges in court and has denied the allegations to friends and colleagues

Charles Batham left the country in 2011 after West Australian police charged him with 31 child sex offences, which he has always denied.

An ABC story published in February resulted in a flurry of fresh information and sightings, prompting police to restart their mothballed efforts to find him.

Mr Batham was this month found living in the picturesque town of Caorle, north-east of Venice, with Italian police this week arresting the 75-year-old at the request of Australian authorities.

In a statement, the Australian Attorney-General's Department confirmed the arrest but would not comment on the timeline for Mr Batham to be extradited.

"We understand that Mr Batham is in custody in Italy in response to an Australian request ... he is wanted for prosecution in Western Australia for alleged child sexual offences," the statement said.

"As the matter is ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment further."

Charles Batham appeared in a 2007 film about ultralight aircraft. ( YouTube )

Shock phone call

One of Mr Batham's alleged victims, who claims she was molested as a young girl while living in Broome, said she was shocked to hear of the arrest.

"The police phoned me and I was really surprised," she said.

"There's still a long way to go, but it's better than the limbo I was living in before.

"It sounds like it could take quite a while to get him back to Australia, especially with everything going down with coronavirus over there, but I'm really hoping that it will happen.

"To be honest, I thought he'd die from coronavirus before [an arrest]."

Mr Batham is yet to face the charges in court and has denied the allegations to friends and colleagues.

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The case went silent

The ABC story prompted more than a dozen people from across Australia and Europe to provide details of Mr Batham's life before and after his decade running a tourism business in Broome.

It was during this time that he allegedly raped and made indecent recordings of young girls and was charged by police.

The charges included 11 counts of indecently recording a child under 13, and six counts of sexual penetration of a child under 13.

Mr Batham broke bail and took a commercial flight to Malaysia without being detained by authorities, a situation slammed by victims' advocates.

For nine years the case went silent, with no public appeals for information about Mr Batham's whereabouts, despite Interpol issuing a Red Notice for his arrest.

The ABC report revealed Mr Batham, who had joint British and Australian citizenship, was issued in 2014 with a fresh passport under a different name in the United Kingdom.

Fresh photos emerge

Charles Batham was reportedly living in Turkey and later moved to Italy. ( Facebook )

It appears Mr Batham has been living a relaxed and open lifestyle in Europe.

A source in Turkey, who asked to remain anonymous, provided the ABC with the first photographs of Mr Batham since he left Australia.

He was pictured chatting and laughing at a social gathering.

Another man, who asked not to be identified, reported that Mr Batham stayed in a villa he owned in Turkey in 2013 and 2014.

The man said he was "disgusted" to learn that a person facing child sex charges stayed at his villa, as his young son had been living near the property as well.

The ABC can reveal that WA police were made aware of Mr Batham's location in Turkey during this period and had arrest papers issued, but he had left the country before an arrest was made.

This photo is said to show Charles Batham in Turkey. ( Facebook )

Living a public life in Italy

Several years after leaving Turkey, Mr Batham was apparently so comfortable in his new home in Italy that he engaged in a public spat with the government over aircraft registration.

Italian newspaper reports referred to him as Charles Edwin Shannon, which was the name Mr Batham adopted in 2014.

In 2017, he is reported to have gone to court in Caorle on charges of breaching the country's navigation code in relation to a dispute over ownership of an ultralight aircraft.

The Italian press this week covered Mr Batham's arrest and reported he was being held in a prison in the northern province of Pordenone.

Mr Batham ran a tourism business in Broome for many years. ( Supplied )

Coronavirus causes extradition delays

Australian authorities now face a lengthy court process to bring Mr Batham to Australia, a process complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Travel bans mean WA police cannot travel to Italy to oversee the process, nor can Mr Batham be brought into the country.

Former Victorian police officer Glen Hulley runs the child protection charity Project Karma, and has been involved in similar extradition attempts.

He said there would be a lengthy court process before the charges could be tested in an Australian court.

"Australian authorities will have to apply to the courts in Italy for him to be extradited, and Mr Batham has the right to appeal that and oppose it," Mr Hulley said.

"We know from experience that the Italian court system is quite backlogged, and you add to that Italy being the epicentre of the outbreak of coronavirus, and it's quite a complicated situation."

Mr Hulley said despite that, it was a great example of how quickly a person could be found once the public became involved.

"The ABC has gone public with their investigation, it's brought a spotlight to the case, and then our organisation and the police and the Australian Government have jumped onboard, and it's led to a great outcome," he said.