Dylan Ward charged with possessing child abuse material
Police allege Dylan Ward came to their attention after he tried to obtain intimate photos from a 10-year-old girl in the UK using Facebook Messenger. The girl responded: “no you weirdo”.
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A young Callala Bay man has been charged after an investigation allegedly revealed more than 21,000 child abuse images on his mobile phone.
Dylan Ward, 24, was granted bail at Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday and banned from using the internet or leaving the house without his mum, after he was charged with disseminate child abuse material, possess child abuse material, and two counts of use carriage service to solicit child abuse material.
In documents tendered to the court, police allege Ward came under police notice after he tried to obtain intimate photos from a 10-year-old girl in the UK.
Police allege Ward used Facebook Messenger to contact the girl, asking her for naked photos before she responded “no you weirdo”.
At the time of sending the messages police will allege Ward was fully aware the child was just 10 years old.
In the documents, police say an investigation into the alleged incident began late last year, after the Australian Federal Police Child Protection Triage Unit received a report from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
In the reports, the NCEMC alleged the same person had ben uploading child abuse material to both Facebook and Instagram.
After investigations, police allegedly traced the IP address to Ward’s Callala Bay home, and found the Facebook and Instagram accounts had been set up using his details.
On May 20, Nowra police swooped on Ward’s home where he lived with his mother and questioned him about the reports.
Upon arrival, police asked Ward whether he had a mobile phone, to which he allegedly responded “no I lost it about three weeks ago”, according to court documents.
Police asked whether he had reported it lost, to which he replied no, before police allegedly observed him to be “nervous, hesitant, sweating and fidgeting”.
In the documents, police claim Ward eventually handed over an old phone, which had run out of charge and did not have a SIM card. Police asked him whether he had another phone, which he allegedly admitted to.
Police obtained the second phone before asking Ward if there was “anything of concern” on the device. Ward allegedly said “yes” before allowing officers to look through his phone.
In the documents, police allege they looked through the camera roll, before Ward directed them to Facebook messenger saying “they’re in there”.
Ward allegedly told police to open a chat with another male saying “that’s who sent them to me, they’re in there”.
In the documents, police allege they saw several video files depicting child abuse, before seizing the phone for forensic examination.
Police allege Ward asked them why he was taking the phone to which they said “well it’s got child porn on it”.
On May 25 a full forensic download was completed, which allegedly uncovered 21280 child abuse images, 1223 videos, 148 application chat messages and 170 text messages.
In one of the most disturbing allegations laid out in the documents, police claim Ward messaged the mother of a young baby, and asked whether she would allow someone to perform sexual acts on the child.
In applying for bail on Wednesday, Ward’s defence lawyer told the court he suffered from autism and an intellectual disability, noting he would be particularly vulnerable in a custodial setting.
The prosecution argued that due to the serious nature of the offences, Ward should not be released to bail, especially given that Callala Bay was a seaside town often frequented by families and young children.
Magistrate Claire Girotto agreed to grant bail however, noting the risks he posed to the community could be mitigated, banning him from accessing the internet and electronic devices, and ordering he only leave the house with his mother. She also took into consideration his autism diagnosis.
“A custodial sentence is not off the cards [if he is found guilty] … and this carries up to 15 years jail time in the district court,” she said.
“But if he doesn’t have access to the internet he can’t commit further offences.”
The matter will return to court on June 15.