Darwin Hospital worker arrested after two-month investigation into alleged child abuse material possession

A medical worker who allegedly smuggled child abuse material on an international flight to Darwin has been granted bail.

A Darwin medical worker allegedly busted smuggling child abuse material on a flight home has been granted bail.

The 54-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in Darwin Local Court on Monday charged with possessing child abuse material.

The 54-year-old Darwin man was arrested on Friday, following a two-month Northern Territory Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team investigation.

Australian Federal Police said the 54-year-old was stopped in November after getting off his flight from India into Darwin Airport.

His baggage and digital devices were searched and officers allegedly found child abuse material on his mobile phone.

A raid on his Darwin home seized 40 electronic devices, including mobile phones and portable storage devices.

AFP Superintendent Gregory Davis said possessing child abuse material was not a “victimless crime”, with downloads fuelling an international black market.

“Somewhere in the world a child is being horribly abused and the distribution of that recorded crime re-victimises them each time it is watched,” Superintendent Davis said.

On Monday, the 54-year-old man appeared before Judge Ben O’Loughlin charged with possessing and importing child abuse material.

His lawyer Nicola MacCarron said the past four days in custody were “quite a shock” to the 54-year-old Darwin medical worker, and he would do “whatever it takes” to secure bail.

Ms MacCarron said police had only alleged there were three images across the 40 devices, although the forensic investigation was ongoing.

“It is definitely not the most serious or egregious example of these types of matters,” Ms MacCarron said.

“Normally when these matters come through to the court it’s the case where there’s thousands and thousands of images and videos.”

She said her client told police the single video was sent “unsolicited” to him by a friend in 2018.

Prosecutor Naomi Low opposed the bail application, saying the man remained a flight risk because of his ties to India. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Ms MacCarron said despite blocking the friend and trying to delete the video, the illicit material kept downloading onto his phone due to the cloud-based storage system

She said the 54-year-old had no knowledge about the other two photos found on his devices.

Prosecutor Naomi Low opposed the bail application, saying the man remained a flight risk because of his ties to India.

Ms Low said to protect the digital integrity of the evidence, any bail conditions would need to stop the 54-year-old accessing any electronic devices.

Judge O’Loughlin approved the bail, with the 54-year-old to return to court on April 18.

Originally published as Darwin Hospital worker arrested after two-month investigation into alleged child abuse material possession