News Centre

This is a joint media release between the Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force and Philippine National Bureau of Investigation.

Editor’s Note: Arrest vision and photos are available via Hightail.

A South Australian man has been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of nine years for child abuse offences including the live streaming of young children overseas.

The man, 67, was sentenced by the Adelaide District Court today (8 November, 2024) for seven child abuse related offences.

The South Australia Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (JACET), comprising AFP and South Australia Police officers, arrested the man in May 2023 after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers alerted the AFP to child abuse material on the man’s phone.

ABF officers inspected the man’s mobile device on his return to Adelaide on an international flight and located child abuse material.

SA JACET investigators conducted further analysis of the man’s mobile device and located child abuse images as well as communications with facilitators in the Philippines about live streaming the abuse of young children.

The AFP shared intelligence gathered during the investigation with law enforcement authorities in the Philippines, resulting in the removal of two young victims from harm who had been sexually abused by the man when he visited the Philippines.

The man pleaded guilty in March, 2024 to:

• One count of persistent sexual abuse of a child outside Australia, contrary to section 272.11 of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
• Two counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child outside Australia, contrary to section 272.19 of Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
• One count of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22 of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
• One count of distributing child abuse material outside Australia, contrary to section 273.6 of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
• One count of using a carriage service to access child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22 of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth); and
• One count of possessing or controlling child abuse material, obtained or accessed using a carriage service, contrary to section 474.22A of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth).

He was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of nine years.

AFP acting Detective Sergeant Natalie Roesler said the AFP was committed to working with local, Commonwealth and international law enforcement partners to protect children from harm.

“Child sexual abuse is an abhorrent crime and victims are re-victimised every time images or videos of the crimes are accessed and shared,” acting Detective Sergeant Roesler said.

“We will continue to share intelligence and resources with international partners to target, arrest and bring to justice those who prey on children.”

ABF Acting Superintendent Steve Garden said ABF officers at Australia’s border were often the first line of defence against child abuse material and its dissemination.

“We take this responsibility extremely seriously and we use a range of intelligence, targeting and profiling techniques to locate child abuse material on the electronic devices coming through our airports,” acting Superintendent Garden said.

“When it is located on a passenger’s phone we will not hesitate to refer this material to our law enforcement partners to ensure it is investigated thoroughly, and perpetrators face the full consequences of their actions.”

Chief of National Bureau of Investigation Human Trafficking Division Attorney Olga Angustia-Gonzales said the NBI will continue the fight against child exploitation.

“Together we will work with our foreign law enforcement partners like the Australian Federal Police, to locate and rescue children from harm.”

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.

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.

Every photograph or video captures an actual situation where a child has been abused.