An elderly Melbourne man who operated a multinational dark web site for discussing sexual activity and sharing child abuse material with children as young as eight has been jailed.
The 78-year-old man from Ringwood East pleaded guilty to 11 online child abuse charges in October last year.
Between November 2021 and January 2023, the man was the administrator of the invite-only dark web site, where he recruited boys, aged eight to 14, from Australia and overseas to have sexual conversations and share child abuse material.
The man administrated the dark web site between 2021 and 2023. Picture: AFP
Victorian and federal police were tipped off about the man’s activities by the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) in June 2022, prompting an investigation.
In July 2023, police raided three properties across Melbourne’s northeast and southeast and seized four computers, a mobile phone, five digital storage devices, 221 DVDs and CDs, 149 magazines and three books.
Forensic examination of the seizures confirmed the man had been operating the dark web site.
Vision of the man’s arrest released by federal police shows officers leading him away from his address before loading him into an unmarked vehicle.
He was sentenced to six years and six months imprisonment in Victorian County Court on Tuesday.
He has been jailed for more than six years after pleading guilty to charges. Picture: AFP
Australian Federal Police Acting Commander Simone Butcher urged any online child predators to take the man’s harsh sentence as a warning.
“The AFP-led ACCCE and its partners remain committed to protecting children in Australia and overseas from sexual predators and will prosecute anyone involved in their harm,” Commander Butcher said.
“Use this example as a warning – if you are doing the wrong thing, we will come for you and put you before the courts, where you will face significant jail time.”
