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26 February 2021, 11:42am
Media Release

Perth man charged with possessing child abuse material

This is a joint media release between the Australian Federal Police and Western Australia Police Force.

MEDIA NOTE: Footage and arrest vison is available from Hightail.

The AFP and the Western Australia Police Force (WAPF) have charged a 30-year-old Perth man with possessing child abuse material following a joint agency investigation into his online activities.

In November 2020 the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) received a report from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding an online user uploading child abuse material to Google Drive.

Enquiries by investigators from the Western Australia Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (WA JACET) linked the 30-year-old Banksia Grove man to the account uploading hundreds of files containing child abuse material.

Police will allege in court the man had control of the account and used it to save child abuse material.

A search warrant was executed at the man's residence on 28 January 2021 and investigators seized several electronic devices. The seized items will be subject to further digital forensic examination and further charges have not been ruled out.

The man was charged with four counts of possessing child abuse material, section 474.22A(1) Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). He was bailed to appear before Perth Magistrates Court today (26 February).

Members of the public who have any information about people involved in child abuse and exploitation are urged to call Crime stoppers on 1800 333 000.

You can also make a report online by alerting the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation via the Report Abuse button.

If you or someone you know are impacted by child sexual abuse and online exploitation there are support services available, visit the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation to learn more.

Advice and support for parents and carers about how they can help protection children online can be found at ThinkUKnow, an AFP-led education program designed to prevent online child sexual exploitation.

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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