Blackburn man jailed after superimposing face of acquaintance onto child exploitation material
A 43-year-old Melbourne man has been sentenced in the Melbourne County Court today (16 October 2020) for possessing hundreds of photographs depicting child abuse, including homemade content.
The Victorian Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (VIC JACET) charged the man on 19 September 2019, after executing a search warrant at his Blackburn residence.
The investigation and subsequent arrest was sparked by a report from the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) after an alert was raised by authorities in the US about a license holder of photographic software.
The AFP were able to trace the report back to the Melbourne man’s address.
The 43-year-old pleaded guilty to two offences, which included a charge after it was found he had superimposed the face of another underage person onto existing images of child exploitation material.
Today, he was sentenced to two months’ jail for:
- One count of producing child abuse material, contrary to section 51C(1) of the Crimes Act 1958 (VIC); and
- One count of knowingly possessing child abuse material, contrary to section 51G(1) of the Crimes Act 1958 (VIC).
In addition to the two months’ imprisonment; the man was sentenced to 100 hours of community work and handed a two year Community Correction Order.
VIC JACET comprises members of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Victoria Police.
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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.
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