Hoppers Crossing man sentenced over child abuse offences
A 48-year-old Hoppers Crossing man was sentenced to three years imprisonment in the County Court of Victoria yesterday (Friday 3 June 2021), after pleading guilty to child abuse offences.
Australian Federal Police members of the Victorian Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (JACET) launched an investigation in July 2020 after receiving reports that a person at the location had downloaded and stored child abuse material.
The arrest was part of a nationwide criminal investigation, Operation Molto, coordinated by the AFP Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE), that looks at offenders using a cloud storage platform to share abhorrent child abuse material online.
Further investigations revealed the man was actively transmitting and obtaining child abuse material and possessing child abuse material.
He was charged with:
- 1 x Cause child abuse material to be transmitted to himself, contrary to section 474.22(1)(a)(ii) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth)
- 1 x Use Carriage service to make available child abuse material contrary to section 474.22(1)(a)(iii) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth)
- 1 x Possess child abuse material using a carriage service, contrary to section 474.22A(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). The man pleaded guilty to all charges.
The Victorian JACET comprises of police members from the Australian Federal Police and Victorian Police.
Media enquiries
AFP Media: (02) 5126 9297
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.