A South Australian man was sentenced to nearly three years in jail by the Adelaide District Court for transmitting hundreds of photos and videos of children being abused.
The man, 31, pleaded guilty to nine offences, after being charged in 2020 as a result of a South Australian Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (SA JACET) investigation into an online user accessing and uploading child abuse material.
The investigation began when the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) received a report from the United States’ National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about an Australian uploading hundreds of horrific photos and videos of children being abused to a cloud-based storage account.
The AFP linked the man to the illegal online activity and the SA JACET executed a search warrant at the man’s Ingle Farm home on 12 June 2020.
Investigators seized electronic items, including a hard drive and PlayStation gaming console, and when they examined the items they found child abuse material stored on a cloud-based storage account and evidence of him trading child abuse material with other users via a social media account.
AFP Sergeant Joe Barry said the AFP and partners in Australia and overseas were committed to protecting children.
“Anyone who views or shares this material is committing a crime,’’ Sergeant Barry said.
“Our message to online offenders has not changed – if you procure, access or transmit child abuse material, you will be identified, arrested and prosecuted.
“This is not a victimless crime. Children are not commodities to be used for the abhorrent gratification of sexual predators.”
The man pleaded guilty to the following offences:
- Four counts of using a carriage service to access child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22 (1)(a)(i) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- Four counts of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22 (1)(a)(iii) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth); and
- One count of possessing or controlling child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service, contrary to section 474.22A(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth).
The man was sentenced to two years, nine months and 26 days in jail with a non-parole period of 12 months.
The SA JACET comprises the AFP and South Australia Police.
The AFP and its partners are committed to stopping child exploitation and abuse and the ACCCE is driving a collaborative national approach to combatting child abuse.
The ACCCE brings together specialist expertise and skills in a central hub, supporting investigations into online child sexual exploitation and developing prevention strategies focused on creating a safer online environment.
Members of the public who have information about people involved in child abuse are urged to contact the ACCCE at www.accce.gov.au/report. If you know abuse is happening right now or a child is at risk, call the police immediately on 000.
If you or someone you know is impacted by child sexual abuse and online exploitation, support services are available at www.accce.gov.au/support.
Research conducted by the ACCCE in 2020 revealed only about half of parents talked to their children about online safety. Advice and support for parents and carers about how they can help protect children online can be found at www.thinkuknow.org.au, an AFP-led education program designed to prevent online child sexual exploitation.
For more information on the role of the ACCCE, what is online child sexual exploitation and how to report it visit www.accce.gov.au.
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