A 25-year-old Tasmanian man has been charged with child abuse material offences, along with encouraging a person outside of Australia to engage in sexual activity with a child.
The Tasmanian Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (JACET), comprising of members from Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Tasmania Police, launched their investigation after receiving multiple reports from the US' National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
The reports indicated a user located in New Norfolk, Tasmania was uploading child abuse material to multiple social media platforms.
Detectives this morning (Friday, 16 April, 2021) executed a search warrant at the man's home and arrested him after allegedly finding explicit material on electronic devices.
Police will allege that upon reviewing the electronic devices, detectives found the man had been engaging in conversations on the social media platform 'Kik' with another user living outside of Australia, encouraging them to commit sexual offences against a child.
The AFP can confirm an international law enforcement partner has identified and arrested the alleged user living outside of Australia.
The 25-year-old Tasmanian man faced the Hobart Magistrates Court today (Friday 16 April, 2021).
AFP Detective Sergeant Nick Gibson said the investigation highlighted that the AFP and its international counterparts continue to work closely to tackle the rising global issue of child exploitation.
"No one country can combat this borderless crime alone. This is why our international partnerships are crucial for law enforcement to not only identify the individuals and groups producing and sharing this abhorrent material, but to remove vulnerable children from harm," he said.
