News Centre

Editor’s note: Audio grabs from Detective Sergeant Karen Addiscott available via Hightail.

Two West Australian men have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment for possessing child abuse material, as a result of separate investigations under Operation Tamworth.

A Maddington man, 60, was sentenced on Tuesday (28 November, 2023) to two years and three months’ imprisonment by the Perth District Court after earlier this year pleading guilty to 14 counts of possessing child abuse material, contrary to section 220 of the Criminal Code Act 1913 (WA).

Police had found thousands of images and videos on his devices showing children being sexually abused and exploited.

The Western Australian Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (WA JACET) arrested and charged the man in August 2022 after investigating reports from the United States’ National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about two accounts used to upload child abuse material to the Yahoo platform.

WA JACET, which comprises AFP and WA Police Force officers, linked the accounts to the Maddington man and executed a search warrant at his home on 31 August, 2022, where they found electronic devices containing the illegal material.

In an unrelated case, a Nollamara man, now 34, was also charged by WA JACET in August 2022 after he was identified from a separate NCMEC report relating to the uploading of child abuse material to the Google platform.

When police searched his home they seized two mobile phone devices and one hard drive containing child abuse material.

The man, 34, was sentenced by the District Court last week (23 November, 2023) to 15 months’ imprisonment after he earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22A (1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth).

The judge ordered he be released after serving three months in custody. He will be released on a $1000 recognisance order to be of good behaviour for 12 months.

AFP Detective Sergeant Karen Addiscott said the cases should serve as a warning to anyone viewing or sharing images and videos of children being abused and exploited.

“Our investigators work closely with local and international partners to protect children, wherever they live, from those seeking to inflict harm,” Det-Sgt Addiscott said.

“We are committed to identifying and bringing to justice anyone who procures, accesses or transmits child abuse material online.”

AFP Operation Tamworth/WA Police Force Operation Palomar was a 2022 joint child protection operation, which also involved Australian Border Force, targeting offenders involved in the manufacture, distribution and possession of child exploitation material.

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.

Support services are available if you or someone you know is impacted by child sexual abuse and online exploitation.

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 ThinkUKnow, 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 www.accce.gov.au.

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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