Willarong Rd, Caringbah arrest: Man charged for child abuse material possession

Police will allege a man had been disseminating child abuse material online for six months before he was arrested following a dramatic raid in a sleepy southern Sydney cul-de-sac.

A southern Sydney man accused of disseminating child abuse material over several months will remain behind bars on remand as prosecutors debate whether to take his case to the District Court.

Jonathan Mumford, 35, was arrested in dramatic scenes at his Caringbah unit at 8.45am on Monday as Operations Support Group officers pounded on his door, shouting “police get down”.

Sutherland Shire detectives have now charged Mumford with two counts of possessing child abuse material and one count of disseminating child abuse material after seizing multiple electronic devices for examination.

The unit was searched about 8:45am on Monday.

Court documents tendered to Sutherland Local Court reveal police will allege Mumford had been disseminating child abuse material from March 2021 up until the day of his arrest.

Police will further allege Mumford was storing child abuse material on a Samsung mobile phone and an external hard drive.

Mumford was refused bail by police and did not apply for his release at Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday, where he was represented by solicitor Ted Bramble.

Mr Bramble indicated pleas of guilty to all three charges on Mumford’s behalf to Magistrate Brett Thomas.

However, the pleas cannot be entered formally until the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions determines whether they will elect in Mumford’s case and prosecute it in the NSW District Court.

Mumford will remain in custody on remand and his matter will be mentioned on October 11 to determine whether it will proceed in the local or district court.

Nearby residents were shocked when officers descended on the quiet cul-de-sac on Monday morning to effect the raid.