A 21-year-old Northern Territory man was jailed yesterday (27 January 2022) for a maximum of 18 months after his conviction on child abuse offences.
The Northern Territory Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (NT JACET) arrested and charged the man in October 2020 after executing a search warrant at his home in Katherine.
Officers from the NT JACET, which comprises AFP and NT Police, allegedly found child abuse material stored on two mobile phones and a laptop computer that belonged to the 21-year-old.
The arrest was a result of an investigation launched after the AFP received a report from the United States’ National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about a person transmitting child abuse material via a social media application.
Some of the illegal online activity was allegedly transmitted from the Katherine property where the 21-year-old lived.
Police alleged the 21-year-old had a number of virtual private network (VPN) applications and browsers capable of connecting to the dark web on his electronic devices.
It was alleged he had been accessing child abuse material from dark web sites and transferring it to his mobile telephones.
The man pleaded guilty to two offences in August 2021 – access child abuse material contrary to section 474.22 of the Criminal Code (Cth) and possess or control child abuse material contrary to section 474.22A of the Criminal Code (Cth).
The man must serve a minimum of six months’ imprisonment before becoming eligible for parole.
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