Media Release
NSW man charged with possessing, soliciting and transmitting child abuse material
A NSW man is expected to appear before Campbelltown Local Court today (9 April, 2025) charged with possessing, soliciting and transmitting child abuse material.
AFP Child Protection Operations team charged the man, 52, on 13 February, 2025, and he appeared in Liverpool Local Court later that day, before being remanded in custody.
The investigation began when the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) received a report from the United States’ National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about an online user sharing child abuse material on social media.
AFP investigators allegedly linked the man to the illegal online activity.
A search warrant was executed at the man's Wattle Grove home on 13 February, 2025, with investigators allegedly finding child abuse material on electronic devices. Several devices were seized and underwent forensic examination.
The man was charged with:
- One count of cause child abuse material to be transmitted to self using a carriage service, contrary to section 474.22(1)(a)(ii) of the Criminal Code (Cth);
- One count of use carriage service to transmit child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22(1)(a)(iii) of the Criminal Code (Cth);
- One count of use carriage service to solicit child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22(1)(a)(iv) of the Criminal Code (Cth); and
- One count of possess child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service, contrary to section 474.22A of the Criminal Code (Cth).
The maximum penalty for each of these offences is 15 years' imprisonment.
AFP Detective Superintendent Morgen Blunden said the charges demonstrated the AFP's commitment to investigate and charge offenders believed to be involved in illegal online activity relating to children.
“This arrest should serve as a warning that law enforcement is dedicated to fighting child sexual abuse and bringing those who commit these offences before the court,” Det Supt Blunden said.
“Our investigators are relentless in their pursuit of anyone believed to be possessing, soliciting or transmitting child abuse material.”
The AFP and its partners are committed to stopping child exploitation and abuse and the 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.
For more information on the role of the ACCCE, what is online child sexual exploitation and how to report it visit the ACCCE website.
Note to media
Use of term 'CHILD ABUSE' MATERIAL not ‘CHILD PORNOGRAPHY’
The correct legal term is Child Abuse Material – the move to this wording was among amendments to Commonwealth legislation in 2019 to more accurately reflect the gravity of the crimes and the harm inflicted on victims.
Use of the phrase ‘child pornography’ is inaccurate and benefits child sex abusers because it:
- indicates legitimacy and compliance on the part of the victim and therefore legality on the part of the abuser; and
- conjures images of children posing in 'provocative' positions, rather than suffering horrific abuse.
