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Editor’s Note: Arrest vision from search warrant is available via Hightail

A Northern Territory man has been sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Darwin Supreme Court for accessing almost 10,000 child abuse images and videos on the dark web.

The man, 33, was sentenced today (21 December, 2023) after earlier pleading guilty to five offences.

The Northern Territory Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (NT JACET) charged the man in March 2023 after investigating reports from the FBI about an Australian online user sharing child abuse material on the dark web.

After linking the man to the illegal online activity, NT JACET executed a search warrant in March at the man‘s Gray home. A number of electronic devices, including a laptop and three USBs, were located and seized for forensic examination.

Forensic analysis identified almost 10,000 child abuse images and videos accessed from the dark web, as well as the communication of messages to other online users.

AFP Acting Superintendent Mal Bickford said child abuse was an abhorrent crime and had a significant impact on victims.

"Our common goal is to protect children, wherever they live, and to ensure anyone who tries to harm them is identified and brought before the courts," A/ Supt Bickford said.

“Every time someone accesses or shares images and videos that shows children being sexually abused, it perpetuates the harm to that child.”

Northern Territory Police Detective Sergeant Scott Russell said this sort of behaviour is reprehensible.

“NT Police will continue to work closely with our partners in the AFP to ensure anyone who engages in child abuse is brought to justice.”

The man pleaded guilty on 24 August, 2023 to the following offences:  

• One count of accessing child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22 of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth); and 
• Four counts of possessing or controlling child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22A of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth). 

The man was sentenced to three years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 18 months. He will serve one year and six months in jail before being released on a recognisance release order.

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 at www.accce.gov.au/report. If you know abuse is happening right now or a child is at risk, call police immediately on 000.

If you or someone you know is impacted by child sexual abuse and online exploitation, support services are available at www.accce.gov.au/support.

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 www.thinkuknow.org.au, 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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