Ipswich man charged over alleged sexualised conversations with children

A 26-year-old Queensland man has faced Ipswich Magistrates Court today (26 August, 2021) accused of transmitting and uploading child abuse material and having sexualised conversations with children.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) charged the man in May this year, after investigating a report from the United States National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), sent to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE).

The NCMEC report alleged a person, suspected to be in Queensland, was transmitting and uploading child abuse material using a Gmail and Snapchat account and posing as a child to have sexualised conversations with children online. Police enquiries allegedly connected the 26-year-old to the accounts.

Investigators from AFP Brisbane Child Protection Operations executed a search warrant at a home in Ipswich on 19 May 2021.

Officers located a number of electronic and storage devices during the search warrant through the use of a technology detection dog, including USB thumb drives, computer hard drives, mobile phones, and laptop computers.

The man was charged with possessing child abuse material obtained or accessed by a carriage service, using a carriage service to transmit indecent communications to other persons under 16 years old and accessing child abuse material using a carriage service.

The potential maximum penalty for the offence is 15 years imprisonment.

He is next due to appear in court on October 7, 2021.

AFP Child Protection Operations Detective Acting Superintendent Tim Puchala said the AFP and the ACCCE are regularly seeing cases involving children being targeted by online child sex offenders through social networking, image or video-sharing apps, or instant messaging to self-produce online child sexual exploitation material.

“Some offenders may contact children and young people online and pretend to be someone else, even another young person, to groom them,” he said.

The ACCCE is committed to stopping child exploitation and abuse and is at the centre of a collaborative national approach to combatting organised child abuse.

The Centre brings together specialist expertise and skills in a central hub, supporting investigations into child sexual abuse and developing prevention strategies focused on creating a safer online environment.

Members of the public who have any information about people involved in child abuse and exploitation are urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online.

If you or someone you know are impacted by child sexual abuse and online exploitation there are support services available.

Advice and support for parents and carers about how they can help protection children online can be found at ThinkUKnow, an AFP-led education program designed to prevent online child sexual exploitation.

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/ipswich-man-charged-over-alleged-sexualised-conversations-children

Adelaide man charged with new offences as a result of a counter-terrorism investigation

A 33-year-old Adelaide man has been charged with additional offences as part of an investigation by the South Australia Police (SAPOL) Counter Terrorism and Security Section (CTSS) and the South Australia Joint Counter Terrorism Team (SA JCTT), which comprises the Australian Federal Police (AFP), SAPOL and ASIO.

The man is now facing a total of five charges as a result of the investigation into Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremist groups in SA, and is expected to appear in Elizabeth Magistrates Court on 7 October 2021 on the new offences.

The new charges come after a review of information allegedly found on electronic devices seized from the man’s home during a SAPOL-led investigation in April (2021), after which he was charged with three offences relating to the alleged possession of an explosive device.

Members of the SA JCTT charged the man yesterday (25 August 2021) with:

Possession of extremist material, contrary to section 37 of the Summary Offences Act (Extremist Material) 1953 (SA);

Possession of information for terrorist acts, contrary to section 83CA of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA).

The maximum penalty for the charges is seven years’ imprisonment.

AFP Assistant Commissioner Counter Terrorism Scott Lee said the threat of terrorism in Australia is enduring and becoming increasingly diverse and complex.

“The AFP and its Joint Counter Terrorism Team partners take all individuals or groups who show support for violence seriously. We target criminals and criminal activity, not ideologies or backgrounds,” AFP Assistant Commissioner Lee said.

“We continue to place significant effort and resourcing into combatting these threats and keeping our communities safe.”

South Australia Police Assistant Commissioner Noel Bamford praised the efforts of investigators involved in this investigation.

“The South Australia Joint Counter Terrorism Team continues to monitor and take definitive action against individuals or groups who promote this type of violence in this state," Assistant Commissioner Bamford stated.

“The actions taken in this matter clearly demonstrate the ongoing coordinated and cooperative approach by all agencies involved in the joint approach to investigating these types of criminal activities.”

Anyone with information about suspicious activity is urged to contact the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400.

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/adelaide-man-charged-new-offences-result-counter-terrorism-investigation

Nearly 8,700 criminals arrested at southern border in past 10 months, including repeat sex offenders

The apprehended aliens have committed a total of 12,685 crimes in the U.S., according to federal data.

Over the past 10 months, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents have arrested 8,691 known criminals who have entered the U.S. illegally through the southern border. Combined, they have committed 12,685 crimes in the U.S., according to federal data.

Because Border Patrol agents do not have access to criminal records from other countries, they rely on information reported in the National Crime Information Center database. Many individuals arrested by Border Patrol are registered sex offenders who were previously convicted and served time in U.S. prisons. They were released and deported only to reenter the U.S. again illegally this year.

The NCIC is a centralized automated database designed to share information among law enforcement agencies including outstanding warrants for a wide range of offenses. Based on information from NCIC, Border Patrol officers have made previous arrests of individuals wanted on charges of homicide, escape, money laundering, robbery, narcotics distribution, sexual child abuse, fraud, larceny, and military desertion.

In a recent Laredo, Texas, Border Patrol Sector report, among a group of 20 apprehended this week, one was a Honduran national and registered sex offender with an extensive criminal history. He was convicted of lewd lascivious battery and sexual activity with a minor in 2017 in Florida and was deported in October 2020.

His arrest, the Laredo Sector said in a news release, “continues to highlight the dangers that illegal immigration poses to our country especially by those individuals who have been previously convicted for sexual misconduct. These dangerous criminals increasingly continue to endanger our communities and show a lack of regard for our country’s laws.”

In another apprehension, Laredo agents detained a Mexican national wanted for allegations of rape out of Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“Sexual violence can have serious psychological, emotional and physical effects on a survivor. CBP collaborates with other law enforcement agencies to bring those allegedly committing these offenses to justice,” Acting Laredo Port Director Alberto Flores said.

In another arrest in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector, agents apprehended a convicted murderer from El Salvador. He spent three years in prison in the 1990s for a murder in California, was released, and in 2005 was imprisoned again for “re-entry of a deported alien,” according to border patrol.

https://justthenews.com/nation/states/nearly-8700-criminals-arrested-southern-border-past-10-months-including-repeat-sex