A Palmerston man is due to face court today after being charged with 19 counts of child abuse including one count of incest.
The ACT Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (JACET) received information from the Australian Center to Counter Child Exploitation regarding the alleged peer-to-peer sharing of child abuse materials, in February 2022 launching a month-long investigation.
Following investigations, a search warrant was executed on a Palmerston home by officers from the ACT JACET in collaboration with support efforts from the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Team, AFP Victim Identification Team, the AFP Digital Forensics Team, and a technology detection dog.
Police seized two personal computers and an external hard drive that are believed to contain thousands of videos and still images.
The 35-year-old Palmerston man was charged in February with two counts of possessing child abuse material.
As a result of the examination of materials seized at the property, further charges have been laid which include six counts of an act of indecency with a child under 10, six counts of using a child to produce child exploitation material, five counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10, one count of possessing child exploitation material, and one count of incest with a child under 10.
The man is due to appear in ACT Magistrates Court today (5 May 2022) where Police will oppose bail.
ACT Police are urging anyone with information regarding the accessing or creation of child abuse material to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers ACT website. Information can be provided anonymously.
