Charges laid over photo of kids bound with tape, held at gunpoint

Two young boys were allegedly bound with duct tape and held at gunpoint, with Queensland police saying a distressing photo of the scene was forwarded to several people.

Charges have been laid against a 44-year-old man after he was originally arrested in May on weapons and drugs charges in Emerald, central Queensland.

The man’s mobile phone was seized and investigators found the image in a forensic examination.

The man was arrested by detectives from the Emerald Criminal Investigation Branch.Credit: Queensland Police

Police alleged it showed him pointing what appeared to be a handgun at the boys, aged three and four, who were known to him but not related to him.

Capricornia District Detective Inspector Luke Peachey said the man had forwarded the photo to other people.

He said detectives were still determining whether the gun had been loaded, and whether the photo was used as a threat, a joke or something else.

“[It’s] very alarming, concerning, and probably disgusting, whether it was in jest or not,” Peachey said.

“The fact that two children were bound with duct tape and that a firearm was pointed at one of ... [their] heads is … not behaviour we would expect in the normal public.

“It’s not every day you come across that; in fact, I’ve been a detective for over 26 years, and it’s the first time I’ve seen anything like that.”

Peachey said officers identified the boys and found they were safe and “in good spirits”.

“[We] are working with the parents of those children to make sure they were in a safe environment ... and removed from where the offender is or can access them.”

He said the children were also from the Central Highlands region, and were currently in their mothers’ care.

Police had not received any report of the incident before finding the images, and were yet to determine whether the boys’ mothers were aware the picture existed.

They believed the photograph was taken shortly before the search warrant was executed in May.

“Obviously, given the charges, this man wasn’t meant to have any guns at all in his possession,” Peachey said.

He said there was no indication other children had been affected.

Following the discovery of the image, fresh charges were laid against the man for possession of unlawful weapons, dangerous conduct with a weapon, and deprivation of liberty.

He was granted bail under strict curfew and reporting conditions – which police said he was complying with – and was due to appear before Emerald Magistrates Court on August 26.

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