A Geelong man has been ordered to pay the Commonwealth more than $850,000, and had his assets confiscated, after creating and selling an online child exploitation-themed video game which had thousands of paying subscribers.
The orders were handed down in the County Court of Victoria in late March, 2025, after an investigation by the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT). This grew out of a Victorian Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (JACET) criminal investigation into the game, which featured animated child exploitation images and allowed subscribers to simulate the sexual abuse of children.
The man, 32, was charged after Victorian JACET members, from the AFP and Victoria Police, executed warrants at his Highton home in August 2023. They seized multiple electronic devices, which contained more than 140,000 child exploitation-files related to the game, and child-abuse files involving real children.
He was charged with multiple Commonwealth offences and, on 1 April, 2025, was sentenced to 11 years and nine months' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of eight years and four months.
The CACT had also obtained a restraining order over the man's assets a day before execution of the search warrants. The now-confiscated assets, many of which are believed to represent proceeds of his sale of the game, include:
- Sale proceeds of two motor vehicles
- Forty eight household items, including high-end televisions, audio-visual equipment, furniture and appliances
- More than $30,000 in funds
The man must also pay a pecuniary penalty of more than $850,000 to the Commonwealth.
AFP Commander Jason Kennedy said stripping criminals of their ill-gotten wealth was a key operational priority for the agency and its partners.
"To make a game out of exploiting some of the most vulnerable members of our community is sickening, but knowing any profits have been stripped away and diverted to serving the community is a balm to the wound," Commander Kennedy said.
"It's a reminder we will not only hold criminals to account, we will also work to remove every shred of benefit they derive from their offending.
"If you think for one second you will keep a solitary cent from exploiting children, think again. The AFP has teams of dedicated experts around the country diligently working and watching. Yours could be the next door we knock on.
"Bottom line - if you engage in illegal activity, we will relentlessly pursue you, your assets and your wealth."
Victoria Police Detective Superintendent Tim McKinney, Cybercrime Division said this was a landmark investigation that really highlighted the insidious nature of child exploitation and the many forms it took.
"Importantly, legislation does not separate simulated offending against children from offending against live children - both are criminal offences, and anyone involved in either will be relentlessly pursued by law enforcement," D/Supt McKinney said.
"For this crime theme to be treated as a game is vile. To profit from this crime theme is utterly abhorrent. We will continue to work tirelessly with our partners to disrupt criminal activities and remove ill-gotten wealth."
The AFP-led CACT, which brings together the resources and expertise of the AFP, Australian Border Force, Australian Taxation Office, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and AUSTRAC, was permanently established in 2012 as a proactive and innovative approach to trace, restrain and ultimately confiscate criminal assets.
The highly skilled members of CACT are located Australia-wide and comprise police, financial investigators, forensic accountants, litigation lawyers and partner agency specialists.
The Commonwealth's proceeds of crime laws provide extensive tools for the restraint and forfeiture of proceeds and instruments of crime, as well as financial penalty and unexplained wealth orders, based on a civil standard of proof. While the CACT litigates matters in the courts, restrained assets are managed on behalf of the Commonwealth by the Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA).
At the conclusion of successful legal proceedings, confiscated assets are then liquidated by AFSA, with the proceeds placed in the Commonwealth Confiscated Assets Account (CAA). These funds can then be distributed by the Attorney-General to benefit the community through crime prevention, intervention or diversion programs relating to the illegal use of drugs or other law enforcement initiatives across Australia.
Since July 2019, CACT has restrained more than $1.2 billion in criminal assets, including houses, cars, fine art and luxury yachts.
