Australia : A 64-year-old Woree man will appear in Cairns Magistrates Court today charged with distributing images of child abuse via postal service.
It will be alleged in court that the man sent mail items containing images to an Australian address from various countries including Slovenia, Tunisian Republic, and Sweden between July and September 2010.
Australian Federal Police officers, with the assistance of Queensland Police Service, executed a search warrant on the man’s residence on 18 March 2011.The man was arrested and charged with four counts of using a postal service to send child pornography material, contrary to section 471.16(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).
Acting National Manager High Tech Crime Operations Grant Edwards said this case served as a reminder that distributing images of child sexual abuse is still a criminal offence, whether the images are shared over the internet, through the post or via mobile phone.
“Every one of these images is a crime scene,” Commander Edwards said.
“It is a criminal offence to disseminate these appalling images of abuse, and potential offenders should be on notice that both federal and state police are continuing to arrest and charge persons for child exploitation offences.”
“The AFP is committed to combating the exploitation of children and takes the crimes of creating, possessing and distributing child exploitation and child abuse material very seriously.”
The AFP, with its partners, has developed the ThinkUKnow program which aims to educate parents, carers and teachers about how to create a safe online experience for our young people with online resources available at www.thinkuknow.org.au.
“I encourage everyone to access and use this valuable resource which includes a ‘Report Abuse’ button to report when something goes wrong online.” Commander Edwards said.
The AFP and its State Police partners appreciate the public’s assistance in combating the proliferation of child exploitation material and urges anyone that has information on suspicious activity to contact police.
The maximum penalty for this offence is 15 years imprisonment.