A Perth man has been jailed for 10 months after facing the Perth District Court for child abuse and bestiality material offences.
Investigations began following a report from US Homeland Security Investigations, which identified 11 Viber users in Australia accessing child abuse material online.
The WA JACET, which comprises officers from the AFP and WA Police Force, identified the man, 47, as one of the Australian users.
A search warrant was executed at the man's Medina home in July 2022, with WA JACET investigators seizing hard drives and a mobile phone that contained child abuse material.
On 4 August 2023, the man was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to following charges:
- Five counts of possessing child abuse material accessed or obtained using a carriage service, contrary to section 474.22A of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth); and
- Three counts of possessing an indecent or obscene article (bestiality), contrary to section 59(5) of the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Enforcement Act 1996 (WA).
AFP Detective Inspector Andrea Coleman said children were re-victimised every time an image or video showing them being exploited or abused was accessed and disseminated.
"These are not just images on a screen - every image and video has a real child being abused and being subjected to a situation that no child should ever experience," Det-Insp Coleman said.
"This matter demonstrates that the AFP works closely alongside our state, Commonwealth and international law enforcement partners to target, identify and prosecute offenders seeking to harm our community's most vulnerable - our children - no matter where they reside in the world."
The AFP and its partners are committed to stopping child exploitation and abuse and the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation 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.
