A 42-year-old Invermay man was yesterday (24 March 2021) jailed for five years after being convicted for producing, accessing, transmitting and possessing the most extreme classification level of child abuse material.
The Tasmanian Joint-Anti Child Exploitation Team (JACET), comprising of the AFP and Tasmania Police, launched an investigation into the man's online activities in June 2019, following a referral from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) that a 'KIK' user in Australia was sharing child abuse material.
Enquiries by the AFP identified a Tasmanian man as the user of the social media account.
The 42-year-old man was arrested by members of the Tasmanian JACET on 21 November 2019. Following the execution of a search warrant, investigators then discovered child exploitation material stored on multiple devices.
Clothes, clearly visible in some of the produced child exploitation content on the devices, were seized and bestiality content was also found.
The AFP told the court that the estimated number of images and videos containing horrific child exploitation content exceeded 35,000 files.
On 21 November 2019, police charged the man with possessing child abuse material accessed using a carriage service, contrary to section 474.22A of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth).
The 42-year-old was later charged with an additional 19 offences following forensic analysis of his seized devices and after AFP investigators discovered additional evidence of offending.
The additional charges included:
- 1 count of use carriage service to engage in sexual activity with a child, contrary to section 474.25A (1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- 4 counts of use carriage service to access child pornography material, contrary to section 474.19 (1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- 1 count of use carriage service to access child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- 1 count of produce child pornography material for use through a carriage service, contrary to section 474.20(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- 1 count of use carriage service to solicit child abuse material, contrary to section 474.19(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- 1 count of use carriage service to transmit child abuse material, contrary to section 474.19(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- 2 counts of possess child abuse material, contrary to section 130C of the Criminal Code 1924 (TAS);
- 1 count of use carriage service to access child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- 4 counts of possess child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22A(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- 3 counts of produce child exploitation material, contrary to section 130A of the Criminal Code 1924 (TAS).
The man pled guilty and was denied bail as of 26 June 2020.
He was sentenced in the Hobart Supreme Court yesterday to five years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of three years.
The Judge who handed down the sentence made a point of saying the offending was some of the most serious he had ever encountered and described it as "depraved" and "vile".
AFP Commander Todd Hunter took time to thank the members of the Tasmanian JACET team for the distressing work undertaken to comb through the critical evidence for yesterday's outcome.
"Let me speak plainly - this offending was of the highest and most distressing level," he said.
"We are all charged with keeping vulnerable children safe from harm - and rest assured the AFP and its partners are committed to tirelessly pursuing and prosecuting anyone who seeks to cruelly and deliberately offend against innocent children.
"We remain committed to bringing offenders to account before the courts."
The ACCCE is committed to stopping child exploitation and abuse and is at the centre of a collaborative national approach to combatting organised child abuse.
The Centre brings together specialist expertise and skills in a central hub, supporting investigations into child sexual abuse and developing prevention strategies focused on creating a safer online environment.
Members of the public who have any information about people involved in child abuse and exploitation are urged to call Crime stoppers on 1800 333 000.
You can also make a report online by alerting the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation via the Report Abuse button at www.accce.gov.au/report.
