A Northern Territory man has been sentenced to nine years' imprisonment by the Darwin Supreme Court for online child abuse offences, including the live online abuse of children overseas.
The man, 69, was jailed today (30 April, 2026) and will serve a non-parole period of five years' imprisonment.
The Northern Territory Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (NT JACET), comprising AFP and Northern Territory Police Force members, began an investigation in January, 2025, after receiving a report from Australian Border Force (ABF).
ABF officers stopped the man upon his arrival on a flight from Indonesia into Darwin Airport, where he was subject to a baggage examination. Officers subsequently located child abuse material on the man's mobile phone.
NT JACET investigators executed a search warrant in January, 2025, at Dinah Beach in Darwin, where the man was located.
During the execution of the search warrant, investigators arrested the man for being in possession of a mobile phone which contained sexually-explicit child abuse material along with messages between the man and child abuse facilitators in the Philippines indicating the live stream abuse of a child as young as six.
The man pleaded guilty on 10 December, 2025 to:
- One count of persistent sexual abuse of child outside Australia, contrary to section 272.8(2) of the Criminal Code (Cth); and
- One count of cause sexual activity (other than sexual intercourse) with child outside Australia, contrary to section 272.9(2) of the Criminal Code (Cth).
AFP Detective acting Superintendent Pixie Fuhrmeister said the AFP and its local, national and international law enforcement partners were committed to protecting children from online sexual predators, no matter where they are in the world.
"Children are not commodities and those who seek to harm our vulnerable young people should be warned - there is nowhere to hide," Det a/Supt Fuhrmeister said.
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. 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.
Advice and support for parents and carers about how they can help protect children online can be found at the ThinkUKnow website, an AFP-led education program designed to prevent online child sexual exploitation.
