A police dog has sniffed out electronic hard drives, phones and laptops allegedly used by a Queensland man to chat with children online in a sexual manner and share child abuse material.
Australian Federal Police officers raided the man’s home in Ipswich, south-west of Brisbane, on May 19 after a tip-off from authorities in the US.
The tip alleged a person 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. Aidan Jordan Lane, 26, had his case mentioned at Ipswich Magistrates Court on Thursday and the matter was adjourned to be heard in the same court again on October 7.
He has been charged with possessing child abuse material, using a carriage service to transmit indecent communications to people younger than 16 and accessing child abuse material. These offences carry a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. A key part of the investigation was the use of an AFP technology detection dog, which allegedly found USB thumb drives, computer hard drives, mobile phones and laptops in Mr Lane’s home.
The Australian-first program was expanded this year, with the team of three tech dogs, which have sniffed out more than 120 devices, to expand by eight in the next three years. AFP Child Protection Operations Detective Acting Superintendent Tim Puchala said this case was an example of offenders using multiple identities across multiple platforms to groom children.
“[We] are regularly seeing cases involving children and young people 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,” he said. “Some offenders may offer ‘likes’ or gaming codes in exchange for child exploitation material.
“Some offenders may even pretend to represent a company and tell the child or young person that they have potential to become a model, or a social media influencer. A child is asked to send photos, including content considered to be child sexual exploitation material. “Some offenders may pose as celebrity or social media influencer and set up a look-alike social media account to approach a child and make them believe they’re interacting with the real account.”
The AFP is the only police force in Australia with a trained team of tech dogs, all of which are labradors. The canines spend about six years on the job before retiring. Anyone with information about people involved in child abuse and exploitation is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online.
If you or someone you know is impacted by child sexual abuse and online exploitation, there are support services available.
Advice 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.
