Convicted paedophile Stephen Raymond Vickery charged with possessing child abuse material

A convicted paedophile has been arrested by Southern Highlands police after they discovered he allegedly had more than 250 child abuse images.

A convicted paedophile has been arrested by police after they discovered he allegedly had more than 250 child abuse images.

Stephen Raymond Vickery, 70, has been charged with possessing child abuse material and three counts of failing to comply with his requirement to report to police.

Police allege the Bowral resident had 251 child abuse images in his possession on the afternoon of September 28.

The court documents show the child abuse images were classified as Category 1 on the Interpol baseline scale.

The matter of Stephen Raymond Vickery was heard in Moss Vale Local Court.

According to the Australian Federal Police, images in this category are pictures of children which would offend a reasonable adult but do not contain depictions of actual sexual activity. While the precise definition is vague, child abuse images in Category 1 are sexually suggestive rather than explicit.

The court documents show Vickery was arrested by police on the same afternoon and charged with three counts of not complying with his reporting obligations under the Child Protection Act and possessing child abuse material.

Police allege he failed to disclose his mobile phone number and two email addresses, despite being required to inform police about his contact details.

Vickery is required to report to police regularly because of a previous conviction for child sex abuse offences, which resulted in his name being entered on the Child Sex Offenders Register.

Moss Vale Court heard Vickery has not yet entered pleas to the offences. His matter will return to the court on January 10, 2022.