Sex offenders accessing child abuse material and social media

Paedophiles and sex offenders under police watch are accessing child abuse material and using social media inappropriately.

Paedophiles and child sex offenders under police watch are accessing child abuse material and are using social media inappropriately without notifying authorities, new figures show.

Police charged 30 reportable offenders, who committed crimes against children and were subject to device inspections, with 94 offences in 2020-21.

This included more than 20 offenders charged with more than 70 counts of failing to comply with reporting obligations, mostly for social networking online.

Under Queensland laws reportable offenders must give details of any social networking site they join, use or register, including passwords.

A reportable offender is someone who commits crimes against children, with most offences sexual in nature, but also includes someone who has murdered a child.

There were 257 reportable offenders subject to 316 device inspections, according to the annual police report on device inspections.

There were 59 offenders who were subject to inspections.

Of the other charges, there were eight offences for using a carriage service to access child abuse material, two for possessing child exploitation material, two for possessing dangerous drugs, one for possessing stolen property, one for false and misleading information, one for producing dangerous drugs and one for possessing anything used in the commission of a crime.

Police said there were also 24 instances where concerning conduct was identified.

The number of reportable offenders subject to monitoring increased by almost 40 per cent compared to the previous year.

In 2019-20, there were 185 reportable offenders with 217 device inspections conducted.

There were 17 offenders charged with 45 offences.

There were more than 30 charges for failing to comply with reporting conditions and 11 for possessing child exploitation material.

Bond University professor and former police detective Terry Goldsworthy said the annual figures were a good example of legislation being put in place to target specific offending.

“With a focus now on electronic means of distribution of child abuse material such a scheme is appropriate for the current social climate we are in,” he said.
“Some 12 per cent of eligible offenders subject to this scheme were found to be reoffending.

“The requirement to report to the minister on the use of this type of intrusive power also ensures transparency and good governance.

“The use of such legislation is also useful from a crime prevention perspective as those who are reportable offenders would now be concerned that they would be subject to an inspection at any time and offending easily detected.”

Police have the power to inspect devices under the Child Protection (Offender Reporting and

Offender Prohibition Order) Act 2004.
Officers can inspect devices from reportable offenders within three months of their release from government detention or being sentenced to a supervision order, or if they have been convicted of a prescribed internet offence or a magistrate makes an inspection order.