A 48-year-old Hoppers Crossing man was sentenced to three years imprisonment in the County Court of Victoria yesterday (Friday 3 June 2021), after pleading guilty to child abuse offences.
The arrest was part of a nationwide criminal investigation, Operation Molto, coordinated by the AFP Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE), that looks at offenders using a cloud storage platform to share abhorrent child abuse material online.
Further investigations revealed the man was actively transmitting and obtaining child abuse material and possessing child abuse material.
He was charged with:
- 1 x Cause child abuse material to be transmitted to himself, contrary to section 474.22(1)(a)(ii) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth)
- 1 x Use Carriage service to make available child abuse material contrary to section 474.22(1)(a)(iii) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth)
- 1 x Possess child abuse material using a carriage service, contrary to section 474.22A(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). The man pleaded guilty to all charges.
The Victorian JACET comprises of police members from the Australian Federal Police and Victorian Police.
/Public Release. View in full here.
/news/gmp-ops-strategy-web-banner.tmb-768v.jpg?sfvrsn=3fe03d03_1)
