SA man jailed for online child abuse offences
A South Australian man has been sentenced to three years and nine months’ imprisonment by the Adelaide District Court for possessing and sharing child abuse material online.
The Norwood man, 56, was sentenced on Monday (11 September, 2023) after earlier pleading guilty to six offences.
He was first charged in 2019 by the South Australia Anti Child Exploitation Team (SA JACET), after an investigation began with a report from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about a user accessing and uploading child abuse material to an online platform.
SA JACET investigators, comprising of AFP and South Australia Police officers, executed a search warrant at the man’s Norwood home in March, 2019.
During the search, officers found child abuse material on a mobile phone and laptop belonging to the man. Following analysis of the electronic devices seized in March 2019, SA JACET officers charged the man with offences relating to accessing and transmitting child abuse material on social media.
The man faced court on Monday 11 September and was sentenced to a total of three years and nine months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years.
AFP Detective Acting Sergeant Jordan Dowling said child abuse was an abhorrent crime and had a significant impact on victims.
"These are not just images on a screen. Every image and every second of a video has a real child being abused and being subjected to a situation that no child should ever experience," Detective A/Sgt Dowling said.
“Our message to offenders has not changed - if you procure, access or transmit child abuse material, you will be identified, arrested and prosecuted.”
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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