Melbourne man jailed over ‘most extreme’ child abuse material

A Melbourne man has been jailed after possessing and making available the “most extreme” kind of child abuse material.

A Melbourne man has been jailed for four years for possession of what police say is the “most extreme” kind of child abuse material.

An investigation into the 43-year-old Caulfield man began in May last year, after reports an online user was accessing child abuse material.

Inquiries by the Australian Federal Police-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation identified a Melbourne man as the user of the service.

The man was arrested by Victorian police last June and child exploitation material was found stored on his phone.

He was later charged with another 17 child abuse crimes after his seized devices were examined and AFP investigators found evidence in encrypted chats.

The man was jailed on Tuesday in the Victorian County Court after pleading guilty to accessing, soliciting, transmitting, possessing and making available the most extreme classification level of child abuse material.

He was jailed for four years but will serve a minimum two years and three months’ jail before being eligible for parole.

The public can report information about people involved in child abuse and exploitation to Crime stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make an online report to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation via the Report Abuse button.