AFP were alerted to the illegal activity by US law enforcement. Source: Rawpixel.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have charged a Queensland man for being in possession of child abuse material after he was found to be uploading the illegal content online.
According to the AFP, The Bellbird Park man has been charged with three counts of child abuse-related offences by a specialist police force called the Brisbane Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (JACET).
Officers were alerted to his illegal online activities in June this year after the United States’ National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) said that he had been uploading the material to messenger platform Kik.
Following this tip off, the JACET went to the man’s home on August 3 where they found the alleged material and seized several laptops and USBs which will now go under investigation.
Under the Criminal Code he was charged with two counts of possessing child abuse material accessed or obtained using a carriage service and one count of possessing child exploitation material.
AFP Constable Tom Clayworth said that these people are still prevalent online but that AFP are working to ensure they are caught.
“Unfortunately, online child abuse material is not rare, and is a focus for the AFP and other law enforcement agencies who continue to work tirelessly to identify and prosecute those preying on children.”
If found guilty of his charges, the man could face up to 15 years in prison.
On Tuesday, a 25-year-old Melbourne man was convicted of possessing, transmitting, and soliciting child abuse material online and given a two and a half year prison sentence.
He was arrested in October last year with laptops and phones seized by police after they were alerted by their Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) team that someone on social media was sharing and storing the child abuse material across multiple platforms.
It was ordered that he be released after serving nine months on a Recognisance Release Order.
