The 25-year-old pleaded guilty in the Wagga Wagga District Court earlier this year. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
A man from the Hilltops region who admitted committing child abuse-related crimes against 24 children has been handed a lengthy jail sentence.
The 25-year-old was sentenced to a total of 16 years’ jail by the Wagga Wagga District Court on Wednesday (27 November) for 28 offences, an Australian Federal Police (AFP) spokesperson said.
He was also handed a non-parole period of 10 and a half years.
The AFP spokesperson said the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation received a report from the United States’ National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in May 2021 about an online user who was uploading child abuse material onto an online cloud storage platform.
AFP investigators then linked the man to the illegal activity.
Police found him at his workplace in September 2021 and seized his mobile phone, which was found to contain more than 1000 files containing child abuse material.
“Investigators also identified online conversations across various chat platforms in which the man would solicit and receive child abuse material from 24 child victims,” the AFP spokesperson said.
Police also raided his home, which was near Young in NSW.
He was arrested and in September 2022 pleaded guilty to 28 child abuse material-related offences in the Wagga Wagga District Court.
AFP Detective Superintendent Peter Fogarty said possessing child abuse material was not a victimless crime.
“This sentence should serve as a warning to those predators who have engaged in this abhorrent behaviour,” he said.
“The AFP is unrelenting in its efforts to protect minors and our community’s most vulnerable.
“Children are not commodities to be used for the abhorrent gratification of sexual predators.”
The man pleaded guilty to 10 counts of using a carriage service to transmit indecent communication to persons under 16, seven counts of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material, five counts of using a carriage service to cause child abuse material to be transmitted to himself, and two counts of using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material.
He also pleaded guilty to single counts of possessing child abuse material accessed or obtained using a carriage service, using a carriage service to groom another person to make it easier to procure persons under 16, using a carriage service for sexual activity, and using a carriage service to procure a person under 16.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732 or by visiting www.1800respect.org.au. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT on 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.
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