Narara: Anthony Michael Ahern in court charged with allegedly having terabytes of child abuse material

A Central Coast man has been charged with allegedly having up to 10 terabytes of child abuse material — the equivalent of 520 million WhatsApp messages — federal police allege.

A Central Coast man was not required to appear in person in court when his matter was mentioned for the first time after his arrest by Australian Federal Police (AFP) following a tip-off about alleged child abuse material.

Anthony Michael Ahern was arrested at his Narara address after the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) unit received a report about a user allegedly downloading child abuse material via a file sharing network.

AFP investigators allegedly linked the IP address to the 55-year-old’s home at Della Close.

Mr Ahern was arrested on Wednesday, June 21, during a search of his home where investigators seized a large volume of electronic devices, which will be subject to further forensic examination.

Anthony Michael Ahern (right), of Narara, is arrested by Australian Federal Police officers and charged with possessing terabytes of child abuse material. Picture: AFP

The AFP will allege in court the devices seized by officers are suspected to contain about 10 terabytes worth of child abuse content, which is equivalent to about 520 million WhatsApp messages or 65 million documents.

Mr Ahern was taken to Gosford Police Station where he was charged with three counts of possessing child abuse material obtained by a carriage service and two counts of using a carriage service to access child abuse material.

Charge sheets tendered in court allege Mr Ahern had been using the internet to access child abuse material as far back as February 2015.

The court heard the maximum penalty for these offences if proven was 15 years jail.

Mr Ahern was charged with possessing terabytes of child abuse material. Picture: AFP

Ahern was not required to be brought up from the holding cells to appear in person when his matter was mentioned briefly before Magistrate Jennifer Price on Thursday.

His Legal-Aid solicitor requested he not be brought up and told the court she was worried about his mental health and that he had been threatening to self harm.

She did not make an application for bail and Magistrate Price adjourned the matter to August 9.

Meanwhile in a statement following Mr Ahern’s arrest, AFP Detective Sergeant Jarryd Dunbar federal law enforcement would continue to investigate the alleged exploitation of children.

He said accessing a video or image of a child being sexually abused was not a victimless crime.

“The re-victimisation of child sexual abuse victims occurs every single time these images and videos are accessed and shared,” Det-Sgt Dunbar said.

“The perpetual abuse of these victims will not be left uncovered or unchallenged and the AFP will utilise every tool at our disposal to shine a light on this offending and end the cycle of abuse.”