An Irish national has been sentenced to nine years and eight months' imprisonment in Western Australia for possessing and transmitting material that included videos and images of infants and toddlers being sexually abused.
The man, 25, was sentenced by the Perth District Court yesterday (18 April, 2024) after earlier pleading guilty to 17 offences, which also involved hundreds of online conversations he had about abusing children.
The Western Australia Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (WA JACET) initially charged the man in July, 2022 after investigating a report from the United States' National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about a person in Australia accessing child abuse material online.
Investigators linked the man, who was living in WA, to the online accounts and when police interviewed him, he claimed a mobile phone in his pocket was not his, but one he had found a few days earlier and claimed he did not know the pin code to unlock it. The man refused to provide access to the phone and was charged with failing to comply with police orders.
Police seized the mobile phone for forensic examination and identified child abuse material on the electronic device. The man was charged with several online child abuse offences and faced court in October, 2022. He was released on bail.
In August 2023, WA JACET, comprising of the AFP and Western Australia Police Force, received a report from the US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) about a person in WA who was engaging in online conversations about the sexual exploitation of children and transmitting child abuse material.
Investigators linked the same man to the online offending and executed a search warrant at his home in August 2023. Forensic examination of a mobile phone they found at his home revealed further child abuse material. The man was charged with additional online child abuse related offences.
The man pleaded guilty on 5 January, 2024 to:
- 11 counts of transmitting child abuse material using a carriage service, contrary to section 474.22(1)(a)(iii) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth);
- Two counts of possessing child abuse material using a carriage service, contrary to section 474.22A(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth);
- Three counts of accessing child abuse material, using a carriage service, contrary to section 474.22(1)(a)(i) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth); and
- One count of failing to comply with an order contrary to section 3LA(6) of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth).
The man was sentenced to nine years and eight months' imprisonment. He was ordered to serve seven years and eight months' imprisonment before being released on a recognisance release order to be of good behaviour for two years.
AFP Detective Sergeant Karen Addiscott said the AFP worked closely with its national and international law enforcement partners to protect children from harm.
"Trading child abuse material and conversing online about abusing and exploiting children is not a victimless crime," she said.
"Children are not commodities to be used for the abhorrent gratification of sexual predators.
"Our message to online offenders has not changed - if you procure, access and transmit child abuse material, you will be found, arrested and prosecuted."
The AFP and its partners are committed to stopping child exploitation and abuse and the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation 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 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.
