Rabie Mouhajer sentenced for possessing and sharing child abuse material

A man has been sentenced for possessing a horrific cache of child abuse material after he and his twin were charged following a police raid at a Campbelltown home. Warning: Graphic content.

A judge has described the horrific cache of child abuse material found on a man’s devices as “depraved” just months after his twin brother was sentenced for similar offences.

Rabie Mouhajer, 25, fronted Campbelltown District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to 10 offences including five counts of using a carriage service to transmit, publish or promote child abuse, three counts of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material to self, possessing or controlling child abuse material and using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material.

The charges were laid after Australian Federal Police raided a Campbelltown home in September 2020 and seized multiple devices including mobile phones and laptops before arresting twin brothers Rabie and Mohamed Mouhajer.

While handing down his sentence, Judge Colefax revealed the contents of the child abuse material was “disturbing” and “depraved” with “children as young as two in visible distress with some being tortured”.

He said there were 9000 images and videos found on the electronic devices after the search.

Rabie Mouhajer.

Judge Colefax said it had been submitted that were was some “degree of planning” after investigators found a “script” on the phone that Mouhajer would use when messaging people.

Mouhajer admitted to using apps such as Snapchat to send and receive child abuse material. One user messaged him to say that had some material of someone who looks “really young, looks more like rape” to which Mouhajer responded “show me”.

Judge Colefax told the court that there was one important question remaining that had not been answered.

“You were brought up in a loving and supportive family. Your childhood was entirely normal. You have no issues with illicit drugs or alcohol issues … you were a good student at school and in fact you were the school captain,” he said.

“Your ambitions in life are to find a partner and marry and become a heavy vehicle mechanic … this brings me to an issue of some importance - why did you access this degraded and degrading material?

“You told the psychologists you were not sexually attracted to child abuse material, that you had heard of the dark web and were curious as to what it was.”

Rabie Mouhajer.

Judge Colefax said this explanation was “problematic” especially given the period of offending, the number of offences and also the “explicit nature” of the conversations he had.

He said Mouhajer had reasonable prospects of rehabilitation and noted that he had no criminal record.

Taking into account Mouhajer’s early plea of guilty, Judge Colefax handed down a sentence of four years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years and six months. Mouhajer will be eligible for release from November 26, 2024.

His twin, Mohamed Mouhajer, 25, faced Campbelltown District Court in October after pleading guilty to possessing child abuse material and using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material to himself in July.

He was convicted of both charges and sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment of three years, but a recognisance release order was made after 18 months. Mohamed is eligible for release from April 26, 2023.