Wayne William Downey: St Ives man on child abuse material charges
A successful businessman, whose company had previously done work for NSW Police, has appeared in court charged with uploading more than 100 files of child abuse material from his leafy north shore home.
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Federal police allege a successful businessman from Sydney’s leafy north shore transmitted more than 100 files of child abuse material to a social networking site.
The AFP’s child protection command swooped on Wayne William Downey during a raid of his St Ives home on April 9, after his alleged online activities were uncovered by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.
Downey, owner of an airconditioning installation business, faces up to 15 years in jail if found guilty of charges including using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material to self, possess child abuse material and use carriage service to transmit/publish/promote child abuse material.
The 52-year-old was held in isolation at Parklea Correctional Centre until his appearance before Central Local Court on Wednesday, which heard he intended to plead not guilty to all charges.
He let out a sigh of relief as Magistrate Robert Williams granted him strict conditional bail, banning him from stepping foot within 100m of a school, preschool or childcare or accessing the internet.
An AFP statement released on Friday alleged Downey’s activities came to light in a report to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation, which identified 115 files he published to social media.
During the search of his home officers seized several digital devices to undergo further investigation, with the court hearing on Wednesday additional charges could yet be laid.
The court also heard Downey had previous convictions on his record for similar “contact” offences, something Magistrate Williams noted as a “concern”.
According to its website, his company Downey Group Services has been contracted to work on some of Sydney’s biggest infrastructure projects including the M5 East Motorway, the Lane Cove Tunnel, Eastern Distributor, Epping to Chatswood rail link and the M2 Tunnel.
It also states the company had previously done work for NSW Police.
Despite having no funds available to post a surety, Magistrate Williams released Downey to live with his wife in St Ives on the proviso he abide by a list of bail conditions.
They include reporting twice per week to Hornsby police, not to leave his home unless accompanied by his wife or certain employees, not to contact or be unaccompanied with anyone under the age of 16 and not to carry out any work for an organization that provides care to children.
Last week investigations commander for the AFP’s eastern command Kirsty Schofield said there was a strong focus on the protection of children as more people spend time online due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“This remains and will continue to remain a vital priority for us,” she said.
Downey’s matter will return to court on June 8.