Man charged with online child procurement – Sex Crimes Squad
Wednesday, 26 August 2015 12:29:38 AM
Detectives have charged a Mount Pritchard man with child procurement and transmitting indecent material over the internet.
Last month, acting on information that a man was approaching teenage girls on a social networking site, detectives from the Sex Crimes Squad’s Child Exploitation Internet Unit commenced investigations.
Assuming the identity of a 14-year-old girl, police spoke with the man on a number of occasions and will allege he made a number of sexually explicit comments, sent indecent images and requested to meet.
About midday yesterday (Tuesday 25 August 2015), detectives arrested a 50-year-old man at a cafe in Sydney’s west.
A search warrant was also executed on the man’s home at Mount Pritchard where electronic devices and other items were seized for further examination.
The man was taken to Parramatta Police Station where he was charged with using a carriage service to procure a person under 16 years for sexual activity, and using a carriage service to transmit indecent material to a person under 16 years.
He was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court today (Wednesday 26 August 2015).
Regular covert online investigations are conducted by the Child Exploitation Internet Unit, and police in NSW work closely with their law-enforcement colleagues interstate and overseas.
Anyone with information about internet predators should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: https://www1.police.nsw.gov.
Information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We remind people they should not report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Meanwhile, police are again urging parents and children to be mindful of the dangers associated with the internet.
Safe internet use – tips for parents:
• Be aware of how much time your child spends on the internet.
• Spend time talking to your child about the dangers associated with online conversations.
• Spend time exploring the internet with your children and let them teach you about their favourite websites.
• Keep the computer in a room the whole family can access; not in your child’s bedroom.
• Consider installing filtering and/or computer blocking software provided by your internet service provider. The Netalert web page provides information on a number of commercially-available products at www.netalert.net.au.
• Ensure you are able to access your child’s email and randomly check the contents.
• Check your phone bill for unusual outgoing calls, or consider using a ‘caller ID’ device to identify incoming calls.
• Consult your telephone company for options designed to ensure privacy and security.
• Enquire with your child’s school, public library, and places they frequent, to find out what internet safety measures they have in place.
• Information on internet safety is available on the NSW Police website at: http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/
Tips for children:
• Do not send a picture of yourself to anyone you don’t know and never place a full profile and picture anywhere on the internet.
• Never give out your personal information, including name, home address, phone number or school, over the internet.
• Never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone you have chatted with on the internet.
• Tell your parents or another adult you know of any contact that makes you feel uncomfortable.
• Remember that pressing ‘send’ is definite and final – you can’t get it back or take it down.
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