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A South Australian man has been sentenced to two years and nine months' imprisonment by the Adelaide District Court today (19 July, 2023) for possession of child abuse material.

The man, 44, pleaded guilty in October 2021 to four offences, after being charged as a result of a South Australian Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (SA JACET) investigation into an online user accessing and uploading child abuse material.

The investigation began when the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) received a report from the United States’ National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about an Australian uploading child abuse material to a Google Photos account.

The AFP linked the man to the illegal online activity and the SA JACET executed a search warrant at the man’s Prospect residence on 17 August, 2021.

Investigators seized electronic items, including two data storage devices. Further examination identified child abuse material stored within a Google Photos account.

AFP Sergeant Joe Barry said the sharing of child abuse videos and images was not a victimless crime.

"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," Sergeant Barry said.

The man pleaded guilty to the following offences:

• Two counts of possessing or controlling child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service, contrary to section 474.22A of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth);
• One count of using a carriage service to access child pornography material, contrary to section 474.22(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth); and
• One count of using a carriage service to access child abuse material, contrary to section 474.22(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth).

The man was sentenced to two years and nine months, with a non-parole period of 12 months.  

The SA JACET comprises the AFP and South Australia Police.

The AFP and its partners are committed to stopping child exploitation and abuse and the 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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