Man arrested in hotel quarantine for smuggling child abuse materials

A 73 year old Sydney man staying in hotel quarantine has been raided by Australian Border Force (ABF), after allegedly smuggling in child abuse material from the United States.

On 13 September last year, the man, who is an Australian citizen and had an inbound travel exemption, returned to Sydney from the US. 

ABF officers had been informed that he may be in possible possession of child abuse material, including photos and videos. His laptop was confiscated before sending him into hotel quarantine to serve out his mandatory quarantine period. Forensic examination of the laptop allegedly found child abuse material.

NSW police and ABF arrested the man on 27 September, seizing all his electronic devices.

The man has now been charged and is currently in custody. 

The ABF confirmed that the man was one out of more than a dozen people allegedly caught attempting to bring child abuse material into Australia during the pandemic. 

195 people have been arrested and over 2700 charges have been laid for alleged child abuse-related offences since the pandemic hit our shores in March last year. 

Border enforcement remains tough, despite less people coming into the country during the pandemic.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said “Australians can be assured that the Border Force and the Federal Police are alert to this abhorrent crime and are making it as hard as possible for people to create child abuse material, possess it or travel across an international border with it.

“As the results show, this work has not stopped during the pandemic.” 

In the last financial year, the ABF received over 22,000 reports of online sexual exploitation, while 13  cases of child abuse material, including cases of importations of childlike sex dolls, were referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

Further to this, 15 people have been deported.

Irit Jackson, 29^th July 2021