A NSW man, 22, will face Coffs Harbour Local Court today (14 July, 2022) after being charged with possessing child abuse material and two prohibited firearms.
The investigation began in March this year by the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE)), following a U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operation into the use of social media and other chat applications to access and share child abuse material.
The investigation identified a man in Coffs Harbour as accessing child abuse material on social media and end-to-end encrypted messaging platforms.
Officers from the AFP Eastern Command Child Protection Operations and the NSW Police Force executed a search warrant at the man's Sawtell home, where they seized two gel blaster firearms, a mobile phone allegedly containing child abuse material and a small amount of a substance suspected to be ketamine.
The man was arrested at his home and transferred to Coffs Harbour Police Station where he was charged with multiple offences.
- Two counts of possessing child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22(A) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth);
- Two counts of unauthorised possession of prohibited firearms, contrary to section 7A of the Firearms Act 1996 (NSW); and
- One count of possessing a prohibited drug, contrary to section 10 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW).
The maximum penalties for the offences are terms of imprisonment of 15 years, five years and two years, respectively
AFP Detective Sergeant Jarryd Dunbar said no one agency can tackle the spread of this confronting and appalling crime alone.
"The AFP is working with its law enforcement partners in Australia and globally to find the alleged offenders and analyse seized child abuse content to find the children behind the images and videos that are callously shared through social media and messaging apps and stop the abuse," Det-Sgt Dunbar said.
U.S. HSI acting regional attaché Evan McKinney said U.S. Homeland Security Investigations continues to support and work collaboratively with Australian Law Enforcement partners to protect the community by combating child exploitation and abuse.
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 and exploitation are urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or www.accce.gov.au/report. If you know abuse is happening right now or a child is at risk, call police immediately on 000.
Research conducted by the ACCCE in 2020 revealed only about half of parents talked to their children about online safety.
An award-winning podcast launched last year by the ACCCE 'Closing The Net' is working to change that, showcasing that knowledge is power and that our only chance to help prevent this issue is if we bring a 'whole-of-community' response.
The podcast series offers valuable tips and advice on how to keep kids safe online. Listen to the Closing The Net podcast on your favourite streaming platform.
If you or someone you know are impacted by child sexual abuse and online exploitation there are support services available at www.accce.gov.au/support.
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.
