A Tasmanian man has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison after pleading guilty to possessing and accessing child abuse material.
The 45-year-old man appeared in the Hobart Supreme Court in late April where he faced charges for uploading the material on social media between 2016 and 2020.
According to the Australian Federal Police’s Child Protection Triage Unit, authorities received multiple reports from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children about the online user’s activities.
Tasmanian Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team officers linked the man to the offending account before executing a search warrant at his home on October 29, 2020.
“During the search warrant, investigators found child abuse material on multiple electronic devices belonging to the man,” the AFP said.
The man with charged two offences under the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) – possessing child abuse material accessed or obtained using a carriage service and using a carriage service to access child abuse material.
The man pleaded guilty to the charges, and the court sentenced him to 2.5 years in prison, with a non-parole period of seven months.
If you or someone you know are impacted by child sexual abuse and online exploitation there are support services available at www.accce.gov.au/support.
Advice and support for parents and carers about how they can help protect children online can be found at www.thinkuknow.org.au, an AFP-led education program designed to prevent online child sexual exploitation.
