News Centre

A Northern Territory man has been sentenced to two years and nine months’ imprisonment by the Alice Springs Supreme Court for possessing and accessing child abuse material online.  

The Alice Springs man, 38, was sentenced yesterday (22 November, 2023) after earlier pleading guilty to three offences.

The Northern Territory Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (NT JACET) charged the man in February 2023 after receiving a referral from the Australian Border Force (ABF). ABF officers at Darwin Airport examined the man’s baggage after his arrival on an international flight and found child abuse material on his mobile phone.

Following analysis of the seized mobile phone, NT JACET investigators, comprising of AFP and Northern Territory Police officers, charged the man with possessing, accessing and soliciting child abuse material online.

The man first faced court in February 2023 and was remanded in custody.

He pleaded guilty to all offences and yesterday was sentenced to a total of two years and nine months’ imprisonment. He had already spent nine months in custody and was released yesterday on a two-year recognisance release order.

AFP Superintendent Greg Davis said the AFP and its national and international partners were committed to protecting children.

“Anyone who views this material is committing a crime,’’ Supt Davis said.

“Our message to online offenders has not changed - if you procure, access or transmit child abuse material, you will be found, arrested and prosecuted.

“This is not a victimless crime. Children are not commodities to be used for the abhorrent gratification of sexual predators.”

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. 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.

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 here, 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 the ACCCE.   

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.