A 23-year-old man linked to a large-scale online child abuse network today became the first Queenslander to be sentenced for his role in the investigation. The man appeared in Hervey Bay Magistrates Court yesterday (Thursday, 26 August 2021) where he received an 18 month jail sentence.
The man was charged in May 2020 as part of Operation Arkstone, a nationwide child protection operation where details were announced in November 2020.
Operation Arkstone was launched in February 2020 following the arrest of a 30-year-old Central Coast man for child abuse offences. The initial referral was made to the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) from the United States' National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Child protection investigators uncovered a global online network of alleged child sex offenders after examining the evidence seized during that first arrest in February 2020.
The investigation has to date resulted in the arrest of 20 men in Australia for 1,297 offences and has saved 55 child victims in Australia from further harm and abuse.
The man sentenced yesterday (Thursday, 26 August 2021) was charged with multiple child abuse offences, including producing child abuse material, using a carriage service to transmit and possess child abuse material, as well as a bestiality offence.
AFP officers and forensic specialists found a total of 23 videos containing child abuse material on the man's electronic devices. The items were seized during the search warrants executed at the man's home in Hervey Bay in May 2020.
The man has been sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment and will serve four months.
AFP Federal Agent Alexander Evans said viewing and sharing videos of children being abused fuels a horrific industry centred on the exploitation of the most vulnerable in our society.
"No child should ever experience the horrific acts depicted in the videos and images that we as child protection investigators have to examine each and every day," F/A Evans said.
"We are determined and passionate about following every lead to identify alleged child sex offenders and ensure the safety of every child in our community from such abhorrent abuse."
