Cameron Robert Bowen faces SA court on child abuse charges, was allegedly ‘mentored’ by RAAF Sergeant Jacob Donald Walsh

An alleged Instagram stalker who posed as female to harass and threaten LGBT youth for photos and sex was taught how by an RAAF sergeant, a court has heard.

An SA man posed as a female online and used Instagram to target, stalk, harass and threaten LGBT and gender fluid teenagers for sex and explicit photos, a court has heard.

The Advertiser can also reveal the arrest of Cameron Robert Bowen led AFP and SA Police detectives to his alleged mentor in crime – RAAF Sergeant Jacob Donald Walsh.

Court documents allege Mr Bowen, who is not an Australian Defence Force member, “solicited” teenagers for sex using methods taught to him by Sgt Walsh.

That alleged link allowed SA’s Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team to arrest them both – and charge them with offending against more than 50 alleged victims around the world.

Mr Bowen, 32, of Salisbury, has yet to plead to 32 offences allegedly committed against 21 teenagers between February 2017 and March this year.

He has been accused of multiple counts of transmitting indecent material, using the internet in an offensive manner, and soliciting a child for sex or to produce child abuse material.

Documents filed with the Adelaide Magistrates Court allege Mr Bowen used his iPhone 6 and four separate Instagram accounts to commit the offences.

He allegedly created each account using a false username and photo, and used the app’s instant messaging feature to contact the teenagers.

It is alleged Mr Bowen sent indecent or offensive material to each of the teenagers, then “solicited” them to reply in kind.

It is further alleged he pursued each victim “very aggressively” and “often threatened” them into “self-producing material” for his sexual gratification.

Mr Bowen is also charged with storing and accessing child abuse material at two online cloud storage platforms – Dropbox and Mega – over the course of his offending.

RAAF Sergeant Jacob Donald Walsh, pictured, mentored Bowen in his offending, SA’s Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team has alleged. Picture: 7 NEWS.

The username for one of those platforms, JACET has alleged, matches one of the fake Instagram accounts while the other was maintained under Mr Bowen’s real name.

Mr Bowen is further charged with transmitting child abuse material to himself through Instagram, and with repeatedly sending illicit material to another account on the app.

In court, counsel for Mr Bowen asked for further time to take instructions from their client given the number and “complexity” of the allegations.

The state’s chief magistrate, Judge Mary-Louise Hribal, remanded Mr Bowen in custody until January.

Sgt Walsh, 35, of Blakeview, has yet to plead to 48 child abuse and sex offences – last month, the court heard JACET was preparing to file further charges against him.

He is also in custody, having abandoned a bid for bail, and will face court again in April.