An Illawarra man has been sentenced to four years and two months' imprisonment and will be eligible for release on 15 August, 2026, after trying to groom a teenage boy in the United Kingdom (UK) via social media.
The man, 62, was sentenced in the Downing Centre District Court today (28 March, 2025) after pleading guilty to six charges on 21 November, 2024.
AFP Child Protection Operations officers arrested the man at a property in Lake Heights, near Wollongong, in February, 2024.
The AFP told the court the man used social media to converse with who he believed was a 14-year-old male in the UK, grooming him for sexual activity and transmitting child abuse material.
The arrest was the result of an investigation which began when the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) received a report from the agency's London Post about a UK investigation into an Australian man accused of engaging in online child sexual exploitation.
Police inquiries linked the NSW man to the illegal online activity.
A search warrant was executed at the man's Lake Heights home in February, 2024, when investigators found child abuse material and records of online communications with the boy stored on a computer.
The man was subsequently charged with:
- One count fail to comply with reporting obligations, contrary to section 17(1) of the Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 (NSW). This offence carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment;
- Four counts use carriage service to access child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth). This offence carries a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment; and
- One count possess and/or control child abuse material which has been obtained or accessed using a carriage service, contrary to section 474.22A(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth). This offence carries a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment.
AFP Detective acting Inspector Emmanuel Tsardoulias said the investigation highlighted how closely police around the world worked together to combat the exploitation and abuse of children.
"Our common goal is to protect children wherever they live, and to ensure anyone who tries to harm them is identified and brought before the courts," Detective acting Inspector Tsardoulias said.
"We are committed to stopping any Australian who wishes to exploit the innocence of children -either living in their community or on the other side of the world - to fulfil their own selfish desires.
"The AFP has strong working relationships with international partners, and this investigation shows how effective law enforcement cooperation is when identifying offenders in different parts of the world."
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 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.
