Reece Daryl Hoey, 27, charged with planning sexual abuse of children overseas, possessing child abuse material
A young SA man has been accused of allegedly conspiring with known child abusers to facilitate appalling crimes beyond Australia’s borders.
Police & Courts
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A young South Australian man allegedly conspired with a “known overseas-based child abuse facilitator” for children to be sexually abused on camera, before bringing abuse footage into Australia, federal police allege.
On January 22, Australian Border Force officers stopped Reece Daryl Hoey as he arrived at Adelaide Airport from an overseas trip and allegedly found child abuse material on his phone.
Mr Hoey, 27, was charged with one count each of planning the sexual abuse of a child outside of Australia, possessing child exploitation material, importing illegal goods and knowingly providing false information to a commonwealth entity.
In court documents, police allege Mr Hoey “prepared or planned to engage in sexual activity with a child outside of Australia”.
The Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday heard Mr Hoey had allegedly been communicating with and sending money to someone in the Philippines, with the understanding that in exchange, that person would facilitate and film children under the age of 16 being sexually abused.
Police allege the planning stage of Mr Hoey’s offending took place “in Angle Vale, or elsewhere in the state of South Australia,” between October 24 and December 3 last year.
The documents allege Mr Hoey signed an incoming passenger card claiming he was not in possession of “tier 2 prohibited good - being images and videos of child abuse material” upon his arrival back into Australia.
He also allegedly produced an Incoming Passenger Card that declared he was not carrying illegal pornography.
“This information was false or misleading because the defendant was carrying an Apple iPhone containing child abuse material,” the documents allege.
Following Mr Hoey’s arrest, the ABF referred the matter to detectives from the Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (JACET) – a joint Australian Federal Police and SA Police taskforce.
“As a result of inquiries by JACET and a review of the man’s mobile phone, investigators allegedly identified further child abuse material and communications with a known overseas-based child abuse facilitator,” an AFP spokesman told The Advertiser.
Mr Hoey was then charged with possessing the child abuse material, and planning to engage in sexual activity with a child outside of Australia.
The 27-year-old sobbed as he appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court via audio visual link from custody on Tuesday as his family, also emotional, heard any form of his release on bail would be denied.
Isabel Brewer, for Mr Hoey, asked the court to release her client on strict home detention bail, assuring magistrate Oliver Koehn that measures could be put in place to restrict his access to the internet.
However, Mr Koehn said the allegations were far too serious for Mr Hoey to be allowed to return home.
He was remanded in custody and will face court again next month.
Australian Federal Police Sergeant Joe Barry told The Advertiser the AFP, along with its Australian and international partners, is committed to protecting children no matter where they live.
“Child sexual abuse is an abhorrent crime where victims continue to be impacted every time images or videos of these crimes are accessed and shared online,” he said.
“These are not just images on a screen, every image and every second of a video has a real child being abused and subjected to a situation that no child should ever experience.
“Our message to online offenders has not changed – If you procure, access or transmit child abuse material, then you are complicit in this crime, and you will be identified and prosecuted.”
While the ABF declined to comment on Mr Hoey’s alleged offending specifically, a spokesman said border officers are dedicated to ensuring people importing child abuse material face the full consequences of their actions.
“ABF officers play a critical role at the border to protect the community, which includes preventing the importation of illegal and abhorrent digital material featuring child victims both within Australia and abroad,” the spokesman said.
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