SA cold-case child-abuser Samuel Joe Frost pleads guilty, on the day of his trial, to a dozen offences and faces maximum life sentence

He evaded authorities around the world for four years – now this Adelaide sex predator has run out of places to run and hide.

An SA child sex predator arrested after a four-year international cold-case manhunt, which was solved through cutting-edge technology and highly-trained sniffer dogs, has pleaded guilty on the day of his trial.

On Monday, Samuel Joe Frost sat in the dock of the District Court, with his head bowed, as Judge Anthony Allen said his trial would “no longer be necessary”.

Following negotiations with Commonwealth prosecutors, Frost pleaded guilty to 12 child abuse offences committed between July 2014 and March 2023.

Samuel Joe Frost, who was arrested by the SA Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team, has pleaded guilty to 12 offences.

Those charges are representative of hundreds of instances of abuse perpetrated, by Frost, against a 14-year-old child whom he abused, photographed and filmed.

In exchange, prosecutors withdrew a further 11 counts of child abuse offending.

He had earlier confessed to maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with that child – an offence that carries a maximum life sentence.

However, the court heard Frost may yet contest the motivations behind his offending – which could see him take the stand and face cross-examination.

Frost, 48, of O’Sullivan Beach, was arrested by the elite Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team in March 2023.

The arrest came following a global manhunt, started by Interpol and involving other law enforcement agencies.

In 2018, Interpol identified photos of a man abusing children had “likely been taken in Australia” and contacted the AFP.

Officers in Queensland undertook further work and found evidence, within the abuse images themselves, that identified the photos as having been taken in Adelaide.

JACET narrowed the search to Adelaide’s southern suburbs, then used state-of-the-art software to pinpoint Frost’s residence from environmental clues in the abuse material.

JACET executed a search warrant and seized electronic devices from Frost’s home with the aid of specially-trained sniffer dogs that detect hidden technology.

As the case progressed through the courts, JACET and prosecutors laid additional charges.

Frost denied all wrongdoing, save for the unlawful sexual relationship charge.

On Monday, through his counsel, Frost pleaded guilty to multiple aggravated counts of possessing or disseminating child abuse material.

He also pleaded guilty to multiple counts of possessing or controlling abuse material accessed via the internet.

Judge Allen remanded Frost in custody until March, when a date for either submissions or the giving of evidence will be set.

Originally published as SA cold-case child-abuser Samuel Joe Frost pleads guilty, on the day of his trial, to a dozen offences and faces maximum life sentence