A Perth man who coerced 286 victims - including 180 children - from 20 different countries into performing sexually explicit acts on camera or video, has been sentenced to 17 years' imprisonment.
The man, 29, who posed as a teenage social media celebrity to prey on the children and young adults online, was sentenced by the Perth District Court today (27 August, 2024), after pleading guilty in December 2023 to 119 charges that covered more than 550 incidents across 11 months.
When determining the sentence, the Judge also took into account another three charges capturing 108 incidences of behaviour.
AFP Assistant Commissioner David McLean said the scale of the predatory and exploitative offending by the offender made it one of the worst sextortion cases in history.
The AFP worked closely with United States' Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Interpol to investigate initial reports about an Australian man sextorting girls through social media.
During the investigation, AFP officers in WA liaised through the AFP's International Network with police in multiple countries to identify victims and check on their welfare.
The Western Australia Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (WA JACET), which comprises AFP and Western Australia Police Force (WAPF), launched an investigation in September 2019 and found the man used multiple social media accounts to target victims.
He would contact young females whose accounts had visible friend lists and try to befriend them, before manipulating them into providing explicit content. He would then blackmail them into providing increasingly sexual and degrading videos by threatening to send earlier explicit content to their family and friends.
One Canada-based victim told police she was just 13 when someone she thought was a 15-year-old social media celebrity contacted her online. Instead, it was the Perth man, who asked her a series of sexually explicit questions before sending edited screen shots of the conversation that depicted the victim liking his sexual fantasies.
The offender then threatened to send these doctored images to her friends and family unless she complied with his demands for sexually explicit videos.
On some occasions, the man forced victims to perform sexual acts on camera for the viewing of himself and other unknown individuals, in one instance it was as many as 98 other people. He also conversed online with other child sex offenders, swapping sextortion strategies, as well as details of children who were susceptible to blackmail and abuse.
WA JACET first executed a search warrant at the man's Parkwood home in September 2019. The AFP seized electronic devices including a mobile phone, computer hard drives and USBs for review. He was charged by the WAPF over a separate child abuse offence.
The AFP first charged the man, then aged 25, in September 2020 and laid further charges in 2021.
Since September 2019, the AFP, with assistance from Commonwealth prosecutors, have been reviewing the man's stored online chat records, videos and photographs; while AFP investigators liaised with international law enforcement partners to identify the victims and scale of the sexual exploitation and abuse.
As the man targeted multiple young women at the same time, police had to separate thousands of pages of jumbled text conversations from the social media accounts to ensure all the offences were identified.
Assistant Commissioner McLean said the man's abhorrent actions and callous disregard for his victims' obvious distress, humiliation and fear made it one of the most horrific sextortion cases prosecuted in Australia.
"This type of online exploitation and abuse is devastating and causes life-long trauma," he said.
"The predator, through his façade of being a social media celebrity, manipulated and exploited 286 children and young adults for his own sadistic pleasure. Most of these victims were in their own homes, a place where they should feel safe.
Assistant Commissioner McLean said the investigation highlighted the importance of collaboration between international law enforcement authorities to combat the online sexual exploitation of children and adults.
"As a result of information provided by Interpol and HSI about an Australian sexually exploiting girls in other countries, the AFP was able to identify this man and stop him from hurting anyone else.
"During the investigation, AFP officers liaised with police in multiple countries to help identify victims and check on their welfare, and passed on intelligence about other offenders who had been in contact with this man.
"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.
"I want to acknowledge the dedication of the investigators who worked tirelessly to bring this man to justice and prevent him from harming anyone else."
Homeland Security Investigations Attache Ernest Verina said HSI was steadfast in its mission to safeguard victims of child exploitation.
"HSI will always stand with Australia on a global scale to hold accountable those who commit these heinous crimes against our children," HSI Attache Verina said.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) prosecuted this matter and provided support to many victims through its Witness Assistance Service.
The man exploited and abused victims from 20 countries - Australia, The United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Guam, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Namibia, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Panama, South Africa, Spain and Netherlands.
He pleaded guilty to:
- 55 counts of use carriage service to cause child pornography to be transmitted to self, contrary to section 474.19C of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- 33 counts of causing a child outside Australia to engage in sexual activity (other than intercourse) in the presence of the offender, contrary to section 272.9(2) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- 15 counts of use carriage service for sexual activity with a child under 16, contrary to section 474.25A(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- Seven counts of sexual coercion of any person, contrary to section 327 of the Criminal Code Act Compilation Act 1913 (WA);
- Three counts of persistent sexual abuse of a child outside Australia, contrary to section 272.11(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- Two counts of causing a child outside Australia to engage in sexual intercourse in the presence of the offender, contrary to section 272.8(2) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- Two counts of use carriage service to prepare to cause harm, or engage in sexual activity with, or procure for sexual activity, persons under 16, contrary to section 474.25C of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- One count of use carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence, contrary to section 474.17(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth); and
- One count of producing child exploitation material, contrary to section 218 of the Criminal Code Act Compilation Act 1913 (WA).
The sentencing Judge also took into account these three charges:
- One count of use carriage service to groom a child under 16, contrary to section 474.27(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
- One count of grooming a child to engage in sexual activity outside Australia, contrary to section 272.15(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth); and
- One count of use carriage service to solicit child pornography material, contrary to section 474.19(1)(a)(iv) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth).
The man was sentenced to a non-parole period of nine years.
Sextortion:
Some red flags of sextortion include online friend requests from strangers or people pretending to be friends with your friends, sudden sexualised questions, conversations, or photos from a random profile asking for some in return.
If you think you are a victim or know of anyone who may be a victim of sextortion, consider the following course of action:
- DO stop the chat
- DO take screen shots of the text and profile
- DO block the account and report it to the platform
- DO get support from a trusted friend or family member, or professional support services and seek mental health support if required. Kids Helpline offers free and confidential sessions with counsellors.
- DO report the crime to the ACCCE
- DON'T send more images or pay as this will lead to more demands
- DON'T respond to demands
- DON'T enter into further communication
- DON'T think you are alone
If you are worried about your or someone else's physical safety, call Triple Zero (000) or contact your local police station.
The AFP and its partners are committed to stopping child exploitation and abuse and the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (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. 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.
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 the ThinkUKnow website, an AFP-led education program designed to prevent online child sexual exploitation.
