Media Release
Tasmanian man charged with allegedly accessing child abuse material
This is a joint media release between the Australian Federal Police and Tasmania Police
A Launceston man is expected to face the Launceston Magistrates Court this evening (23 February, 2025) charged with allegedly accessing child abuse material.
The Tasmanian Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (TAS JACET), comprising of members from the AFP and Tasmania Police, charged the man, 54, this morning after investigating a report from the United States National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about an online user transmitting child abuse content.
Police allegedly identified the man as the online user and executed search warrants in Launceston and Hobart today where they located and seized electronic devices, which allegedly contained child abuse material.
The devices will be subject to further forensic examination.
TAS JACET arrested the man at his home and later charged him with one count of using a carriage service for child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22 of the Criminal Code (Cth).
The maximum penalty for the offence is 15 years' imprisonment.
The AFP and its partners are committed to stopping child exploitation and abuse and the AFP-led 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.
