Operation Arkstone: child abuse material network kingpins sentenced

A NSW childcare educator and his boyfriend who abused young children and then shared the vile videos online have been sentenced to decades behind bars.

A NSW childcare educator and his boyfriend who committed some of the most vile, protracted child abuse ever uncovered by the Australian Federal Police will spend decades behind bars for their appalling crimes.

The childcare educator and his boyfriend were netted in 2020 by the AFP’s Operation Arkstone, which smashed a domestic online network of child sex offenders.

They were charged with sexually abusing a number of children over several years, photographing and recording the abuse, and distributing it to an online pedophile network.

The offenders cannot be identified, as the childcare educator committed crimes against infants and toddlers at his workplace, and the boyfriend against children known to him.

The highly invasive sexual crimes – which are too distressing and graphic to repeat – were committed against babies aged one up to children aged 17.

The childcare educator on the day of his arrest.

The pair pleaded guilty to a raft of NSW child abuse and Commonwealth child abuse material offences.

The childcare educator, in his 30s, was sentenced to an overall 37 year prison term, with a non-parole period of 26 years.

He will be eligible for parole on June 3, 2046.

The boyfriend, in his 20s, was sentenced to an overall 26 year prison term, with a non-parole period of 16 years and nine months.

He will be eligible for parole on March 3, 2037.

The boyfriend on the day of his arrest.

At Sydney District Court last week, Judge Sarah Hopkins described the pair’s commitment to maximising their sexual gratification through the offending.

“A number of the offences were committed using various degrees of physical force or other forms of coercion or incentivisation,” Judge Hopkins said.

“Other offences occurred while the victims were asleep or playing computer games – whatever the means by which it occurred, it was dehumanising treatment of their victims as play things, being positioned for the best camera angles or for the most gratification.”

The pair were ultimately found with thousands of horrific child abuse videos in their possession – many of which they had created while meting out the abuse themselves.

The Australian Federal Police said it was some of the worst child abuse offending ever uncovered.

Judge Hopkins referred to statements from two victims which outlined the grave impact of the appalling abuse.

“(One child) described feelings of anger, shame and sadness,” Judge Hopkins said.

“(Another child) details the impact, including feelings of guilt, anger, humiliation, worthlessness and a sense of betrayal by someone they trusted.”

Judge Hopkins earlier outlined how the pair had themselves been victims of horrific child sexual abuse perpetrated by family members and the childcare educator’s teacher.

The childcare educator in particular had been subjected to violent, degrading abuse which was filmed, resulting in him discovering videos of himself as a child online.

Both offenders have been repeatedly sexually and physically assaulted since they have been on remand, with the boyfriend now prescribed prophylactic HIV medication as a result.

Judge Hopkins also acknowledged the pair had admitted to certain offences that would otherwise have not been detected due to an absence of complaints by some victims, and that they had provided pin codes to their devices to assist police with their investigation.

Commander Kate Ferry at The Australian Federal Police headquarters. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

After the sentences, AFP Commander Kate Ferry said the AFP was relentless in its pursuit of anyone producing and sharing child abuse material.

“Operation Arkstone began as a result of one small piece of information,” she said.

“What the AFP and its domestic and international law enforcement partners uncovered in the weeks and months that followed was truly some of the worst offending we have ever seen.”

Commander Ferry said the pair’s behaviour might be the “most disturbing” representation of what child sex offenders are capable of.

“Some of those arrested during Operation Arkstone were meant to keep our children safe – instead, they used their position to commit some of the most evil crimes imaginable,” she said.

“Operation Arkstone should serve as a warning that there is no dark corner of the internet that is safe for offenders to hide, and there is nowhere the AFP and its law enforcement partners won’t go to hunt you down and drag you out into the light.”

Commander Ferry also acknowledged the victims’ courage, and said their determination to seek justice inspired the AFP’s investigators daily.

“I hope today’s court result helps you to take the next step in your path towards healing,” Commander Ferry said.