Two SA men charged with child sex offences – one is Ben Waters, an adviser to MP Nat Cook, the other a senior Corrections officer
A state Labor frontbencher’s senior adviser and a high-ranking corrections officer are facing child sex abuse charges linked to a notorious HIV-positive paedophile.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A senior political adviser to Labor MP Nat Cook and a high-ranking Correctional Services officer have been arrested and charged with child abuse offences.
The Advertiser can reveal the pair were arrested following ongoing investigations into Jadd William Brooker – the HIV-positive paedophile who sought to infect children with the virus.
The pair, Labor staffer Ben Waters, 38, and a Port Lincoln man, 37, were arrested late on Tuesday as a result of a SA Police/Federal Police Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team (JACET) investigation.
THE FIRST ACCUSED – BEN WATERS
Waters has been an adviser for Ms Cook, the Opposition Human Services spokesperson, since 2019, while his 37-year-old co-accused is acting in a management position with Correctional Services.
Waters has worked across several Labor MPs’ offices as an adviser for the past decade.
He worked as a campaigner in London for the UK Labour Party for three and a half years until returning to Adelaide in 2019, and has worked in Ms Cook’s office since that time.
In a statement, Ms Cook said she was advised on Tuesday afternoon “that one of my staff members was charged with child abuse-related offences’’.
“I was shocked when learning of these charges,’’ she said.
“Naturally, my office has fully co-operated with the Australian Federal Police and South Australia Police investigation and will continue to do so.
“As soon as I was made aware of the charges, I took immediate action and advised the Department of Treasury and Finance and requested that his employment be immediately terminated and that all access to buildings and IT be blocked.
“I also advised the Labor Party, who I understand held an emergency State Executive meeting this morning and have expelled this person as a member.
“As the matter is now before the court, I am unable to make any further comment.’’
Waters, of Adelaide, appeared in Adelaide Magistrates Court on Wednesday afternoon and did not seek bail.
He is charged with one count of producing child abuse material through a carriage service, two counts of aggravated possession of child exploitation material and two counts of possession of child exploitation material.
His lawyer asked for a home detention bail report to be prepared and a four-week remand in case a plea could be negotiated. He will appear again on Thursday next week.
THE SECOND ACCUSED – A CORRECTIONS OFFICER
The 37-year-old senior Correction Services Department employee, from Port Lincoln, appeared in Adelaide Magistrates Court via video link from Port Lincoln late Wednesday morning.
He is charged with two counts of producing child exploitation material, one count of indecent filming, one count of aggravated possession of child exploitation material and one count of disseminating child exploitation material.
During the hearing his counsel asked that his name be suppressed because he would suffer “significant hardship’’ if his case was publicised – even though hardship to an accused is not grounds for a suppression order under SA law.
In a later hearing, a magistrate refused the application, which had been opposed by police and The Advertiser.
However, the man’s lawyer flagged a Supreme Court appeal against that decision and as a result, his name remains suppressed for now.
The man made no application for bail and was remanded in custody until November. He has been suspended from his job without pay.
ARRESTS STEMMED FROM BROOKER INVESTIGATION
The arrests follow an investigation that stemmed from a separate SA JACET inquiry last year into Jadd William Brooker, 39 of Glenelg.
He has already pleaded guilty to some, but not all, of the 44 child sex abuse charges laid against him last year.
Part of the investigation into Brooker involved forensic analysis of 4.5 million digital files on his various devices.
Police will allege they found records of online conversations between Brooker and a 27-year-old Victorian man about the sexual abuse of children.
When Victorian JACET investigators arrested the Melbourne man earlier this year and forensically analysed his devices, they allegedly found links to two South Australian men – Waters and the 37-year-old.
Investigators from SA JACET allegedly found a large amount of child abuse material on a USB device when they searched Waters’ home on Tuesday.
An office at Parliament House was also searched after a search warrant was served on Speaker Josh Teague to gain access.
Police said the 37-year-old man’s communications with Waters were intercepted and found to be “sexually explicit’’ and pertaining to sexual exploitation of children.
Police said the 37-year-old sent Waters two internet links to online cloud storage accounts containing child exploitation material.
That had triggered his arrest, during which his temporary residence at Port Lincoln and his northern suburbs home in Adelaide were searched.
At the second location police found covert video cameras – and video files allegedly showing him operating that camera filming adults and babies at that address.
Other films allegedly depicted him filming children in various states of undress.
Police said the identities of those alleged victims were yet to be ascertained and publicly identifying the man would “undoubtedly and positively assist’’ their investigations.
The man responded to this by cupping his face in his hands and crying.
AFP Detective Superintendent Gail McClure said the investigation showed how closely police around Australia worked together to combat the exploitation and abuse of children.
“Our common goal is to protect children, wherever they live, and ensure anyone who tries to harm them is identified and brought before the courts,” she said.
SAPOL Detective Superintendent James Blandford said the strong partnership between the AFP and SAPOL provides our community a powerful force to protect children and hold offenders to account.
“The offences relating to child exploitation are significant and seriously damaging to victims and the community as a whole, as a result of the traumatic physical and emotional scars inflicted by the abuse,” he said.
“Our community must tackle the question of child exploitation head-on and collectively find an answer to it.”
Members of the public who have any information about people involved in child abuse and exploitation are urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online at www.accce.gov.au/report.
‘Almighty bang’: Man dies and kids hurt in two-car crash
A 49-year-old man has died, and two children who were on board are in hospital, after a crash between two cars in Adelaide’s north on Friday morning.
Read more
‘Very concerning, erratic’: Neighbours speaks out after shooting
Neighbours living near the site of a shooting in an Adelaide suburb have spoken of their fears, saying there are often concerning “characters” in the neighbourhood, as well as police.
Read more