A 57-year-old Sydney man is expected to face court today (10 June 2020), for allegedly paying to direct and view the live abuse of a child in the Philippines online.
Financial intelligence provided by AUSTRAC (the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre) revealed details of a payment from a NSW resident to a known child exploitation facilitator in the Philippines.
The NSW Child Protection Operations Team launched an investigation based on this information and executed a search warrant the man's home in Sydney yesterday (Tuesday, 9 June 2020). During the search, police seized a number of electronic devices including mobile phone, two laptops and a hard drive. Forensic examination of the devices is ongoing.
The man is expected to appear in Central Local Court today, charged with:
- Procuring a child to engage in sexual activity outside Australia, contrary to section 272.14 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). This offence carries a maximum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment.
- Using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). This offence carries a maximum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment.
- Possessing child abuse material obtained or accessed through a carriage service, contrary to section 474.22(A) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). This offence carries a maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment.
AUSTRAC's intelligence analysts are experts in analysing and detecting financial transactions indicative of crimes including child exploitation and have an important role in combating child sexual exploitation.
AUSTRAC's public-private partnership, the Fintel Alliance, released a financial indicators report to help the financial services sector to identify and report suspicious activities to combat the sexual exploitation of children for financial gain.
Anyone with information about suspected online child abuse can alert the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation via the Report Abuse button at www.accce.gov.au/report.
