Daniel Joseph Hunter, a 41-years-old office worker, who still lived with his parents, had been sending child sexual abuse images and videos using the dark web from his bedroom. The AFP officers had arrested the accused from his workplace in Sydney’s CBD. They say that they have been tipped off, which led to the arrest.
The day the accused was arrested was an ordinary working day for him. He left his parent’s home at Kirrawee in South Sydney and travelled to his office in Kent Street. He had ordered his everyday drink from his office café in the lobby and then took the lift to the 15th floor.
The Australian Federal Police raided Hunter’s residence where they forensically looked through his mobile phones and computers. Hunter was unknown to this occurrence when he was enjoying his coffee at his desk in Credit Corp’s office.
The cops had found ‘horrendous images and videos’ of child sexual abuse from the raided devices and computers. The accused faced court on Saturday where he was refused bail. His father was shocked and told the news daily that he did not speak to his son and also had no such plans.
Last October, the Operation Deadlock had begun investigating the accused after the FBI tipped them off. This has resulted in charging the accused with five offences that were directly connected to the distribution of the child sexual abuse materials.
On the 20th of January this year, the cops had allegedly noticed that he had shared child sexual abuse materials on the dark web after the AFP started investigating the accused office worker. He was unaware of cops observing him and conducted the same crime again the next day.
The police had alleged that on the 28th of January, the accused had shared materials with two other people on the dark web on at least three occasions. The next day, the officers visited his residence and arrested Hunter from his CBD office in handcuffs. The employees at the CBD office were all shocked at his arrest. However, the company had refused to comment on anything when they were approached.
The accused is charged with controlling or possessing child sexual abuse materials, using a carriage service to solicit and transmit child sexual abuse materials and also an aggravated offence of using a carriage service for sharing such materials.
The AFP’s acting commander, Benjamin McQuillan, said that the children in the videos had unfortunately been targeted in an ever-constant team of victims.
‘This investigation shows that the AFP and our international counterparts are working closely to tackle the rising global issue of child exploitation,’ he said.
‘No one country can combat this borderless crime alone, which is why our international partnerships are crucial for law enforcement to not only identify the individuals and groups producing and sharing this abhorrent material, but to remove these vulnerable children from further harm.’
The accused will reappear in the Central Local Court on the 31st of March 2020 and will be facing maximum imprisonment of 25 years if convicted.
Source: Daily Mail
Disclaimer: Read the complete disclaimer here.
