A 61-year-old Townsville man is expected to appear in Court today after he was intercepted at Townsville Airport as he waited to board a plane to the Philippines for alleged sexual activity with a child.
Investigations into the Toomulla man, 61, began on 3 September, when the US agency of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) referred the man to the Northern Command Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (NC JACET).
On 13 November, NC JACET and the AFP Technology Detection Dog team, with assistance from Queensland Police Service’s Public Safety Response Team (PSRT), executed a search warrant at an address in Toomulla.
The home was empty, however NC JACET and PSRT members subsequently travelled to Townsville Airport and located the man before he boarded a flight to the Philippines via Brisbane.
He accompanied police to the Toomulla property where a mobile phone was seized.
Forensic examination of the mobile phone uncovered messages between the man and a woman in the Philippines allegedly organising her daughter, 16, to engage in sexual intercourse, and for another daughter, 6, to also engage in sexual activity, Police said in a statement.
The man was charged with one count of procuring a child to engage in sexual activity outside Australia. The maximum penalty for this offence is 15 years’ imprisonment.
He was arrested and released with strict conditional bail to appear before Townsville Magistrates Court today.
A referral was also made to the Philippines National Police.
AFP Detective Inspector Steven Wiggins said the collaboration between international law enforcement was critical to locating people who sought to engage in illegal activity offshore.
“The cooperation between the AFP, the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE), and the HSI is key to catching alleged perpetrators,” Det-Insp Wiggins said.
“All online activities are traceable, regardless of where in the world they take place.
“Anyone engaging in the exploitation or abuse of children should expect to be found and put before the courts.”
