A West Australian man has been sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment by the Perth District Court for possessing child abuse material.
The Perth man, 67, was sentenced on 12 December, 2023, after earlier pleading guilty to one count of possessing child abuse material.
Judge Felicity Zempilas ordered his immediate release, citing three days of pre-sentence custody already served and several other mitigating factors including his age and his role as the primary carer of his mother.
He is also subject to a recognisance release order to be of good behaviour for 12 months, along with other conditions.
The Western Australian Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (WA JACET), with assistance from Digital Forensics, searched the man's home in January, 2023, and found 157 media files of child abuse material on a device. He accessed the files between July, 2016, and January, 2023.
The man was subsequently charged with:
- Using a carriage service to obtain or access material, contrary to section 474.22A (1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth).
AFP Acting Inspector Peter Brindal said the man used an encrypted network to upload the material.
"He used his technical knowledge in an attempt to hide his actions," Det Insp Brindal said.
"The investigation required a lot of analysis by our digital forensics team, but their skill and relentless determination allowed us to locate the offending files.
"It is a reminder that you cannot cover your tracks if you view online child abuse material. We will find you."
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 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.
