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04 March 2020, 4:38pm
Media Release

Sydney man sentenced for child exploitation offences

A 39-year-old Sydney man has been sentenced to three years and five months imprisonment after pleading guilty to seven offences relating to child exploitation offences.

The man was sentenced in the Downing Centre Court on 3 March 2020, after being arrested in November 2018 by the NSW Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (NSW JACET). The arrest followed a search warrant at the man’s residence in Collaroy, where AFP officers seized several electronic devices. AFP forensic examination later identified that the devices contained images and videos classified as child abuse material.

Police arrested the man and he was charged with:

  • Five counts of either making available, transmitting or accessing child abuse material, contrary to section 474.19(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth).
  • One count of committing at least three of the offences under s.474.19 to at least two persons, contrary to section 474.24(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth).
  • One count of possessing child abuse material contrary to section 91H(2) of the Crimes ACT 1900 (NSW).

He was sentenced to a total of three years and five months imprisonment with a non-parole period of one year and nine months and will be added to the Child Protection Register.

Members of the public who have any information about people involved in the possession or sharing of child exploitation material are urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

You can also make a report online by alerting the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation via the Report Abuse button at www.accce.gov.au/report .

Note to media:

USE OF TERMS ‘CHILD ABUSE’, NOT ‘CHILD PORNOGRAPHY’

Use of the phrase “child pornography” 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 captures an actual situation where a child has been abused. This is not “pornography”.

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