A 69-year-old WA man faced Bunbury Magistrate’s Court today after the WA Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (JACET) charged him with one count of possessing child abuse material.
The man was arrested as part of joint AFP and WA Police operation targeting offenders involved in the manufacture, distribution and possession of child exploitation material.
He was among 45 people charged following a joint operation in WA, carried out in the lead up to National Child Protection Week (NCPW) and involved the AFP, WA Police, and Australian Border Force. Police allegedly identified the man after investigating a report from the United States’ National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about a person in Western Australia accessing child abuse material online.
A search warrant was executed at the man’s home in WA’s South West, where WA JACET investigators allegedly found child abuse material on his mobile phone. The device was seized for further forensic examination.
AFP Detective Sergeant Ross Hinscliff said the charges demonstrated the AFP’s commitment to investigate and charge offenders believed to be involved in child exploitation and sexual abuse.
“This work is gut-wrenching, but our investigators are relentless in their pursuit of anyone sharing or accessing child abuse material, and they will follow-up any information to bring these people to justice,” he said.
The man was charged with one count of possession of child exploitation material. The maximum penalty for this offence is seven years’ imprisonment.
