A 35-year-old man from Moss Vale will face court on Tuesday following a statewide sweep targeting accused online child sex offenders.
The man was taken into custody at the end of August, during a series of raids across Sydney, the Central Coast, Wollongong and the Southern and Highlands.
The two-week blitz, which ran from August 28 until last Thursday, involved more than 140 officers from the Australian Federal Police, NSW police and Border Security. At least 15 homes were searched and nine people taken into custody – eight men and one woman.
The Moss Vale man is accused of taking part in sexualised online conversations with two underaged girls in the Philippines.
He faces a maximum ten year prison term if convicted. Four electronic devices were seized from the property during the search.
Other arrests included a 34-year-old Cranebrook woman, who police allege uploaded 14 files containing child abuse material to a social media platform, and received more than 100 illicit videos and images from an instant messaging application.
Police said those taken into custody range in age from 18 to 62, but none of them currently hold employment positions that give them access to children.
The operation comes days after it was revealed reports of online child abuse material leapt by 41%, to almost 83,000, during the 2024-25 financial year.
