A 41-year-old Perth man, living in Gosnells, has been sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison for possessing a collection of child abuse material, including extremely graphic and disturbing content.
The Perth District Court handed down the sentence on March 27, 2025, sentencing the man to 11 years and nine months behind bars, with a non-parole period of seven years.
He first came to the attention of police in November 2022, when NSW officers executed a search warrant in Swansea as part of an online child abuse investigation.
A mobile phone seized in that operation contained links to child abuse material and information about online users; one of whom was the man from Perth.
In March 2024, Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers raided the man’s home in Gosnells and seized several electronic devices. A forensic examination revealed active social media accounts used to access, download, and store child abuse material.
The man pleaded guilty to multiple offences, including possessing, accessing, and distributing child abuse material. Investigators found that he had engaged in 11 online chat groups and accessed over 1,200 videos and 240 images.
In total, he stored 71,486 unique files showing abuse, involving 18,648 child victims. Six of the images were snuff files showing young females who were deceased or being tortured.
Globally, police have identified and rescued 510 of those victims.
AFP Detective Superintendent Peter Chwal said the scale of the man’s offending reflected the horrific nature of these crimes.
“Accessing and downloading this material props up this vile industry and normalises a crime that leaves victims and their families with lifelong trauma,” Detective Supt Chwal said.
AFP and its partners, including the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE), continue to lead national efforts to investigate and prevent child abuse online.
Anyone with information about child abuse is urged to contact authorities.
If a child is in immediate danger, call police on 000.
