‘18,648 child victims’: Images of dead girls amongst sickening discovery in Perth man’s home

WARNING: Distressing content

A vast collection of horrifying images have landed a Perth man in prison for more than a decade.

The 41-year-old Gosnells man pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse material involving 18,648 child victims and was sentenced on Thursday.

Snuff images of six young girls who were dead or being tortured were among it.

He had accessed 1258 videos and 240 images through 11 online chat groups, and saved 71,486 unique files, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said on Friday.

“The scale and depravity of the man’s offending highlighted the abhorrent reality that predators viewed children as commodities for their own gratification, with no regard for the horrific harm they perpetuated,” AFP Detective Superintendent Peter Chwal said.

The Gonsells man first landed on the AFP’s radar in 2022 when NSW Police raided a Swansea home, in the state’s Lake Macquarie region, as part of an online child abuse investigation in eastern state.

“A forensic examination of a seized mobile phone contained links to child abuse material and the details of online users who had downloaded the content,” AFP said.

“They included the Perth man.”

AFP then executed a search warrant of the 41-year-old man’s Gosnells home in March 2024 and seized multiple electronic devices.

Active social media accounts that were used to access, download and store child abuse material was found on these devices during a forensic analysis.

Just 510 of the thousands of young victims have been identified and rescued by gloabl law enforcement agencies.

The Gosnells man was charged with five counts of possessing or controlling child abuse material on a computer or data storage device, having obtained or accessed the material using a carriage service.

He was also charged with two counts of accessing child abuse material, and one count of committing an offence against section 474.22(1) of the Criminal Code on three or more separate occasions and the commission of each offence involved two or more people.

He was sentences to 11 years and nine months in jail, with a non-parole period of seven years.

“Accessing and downloading this material props up this vile industry and normalises a crime that leaves victims and their families with lifelong trauma,” Det Supt Chwal said.

“Our goal is to protect children, wherever they live, and we will never stop hunting down offenders to bring them before the courts.

“This result is testament to the resolve of our investigators, who spend painstaking hours reviewing grotesque material to identify and prosecute offenders.”

If you, or someone you know, is impacted by child sexual abuse and online exploitation, various support services are available via the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation website.

If you believe a child is in immediate danger call Triple-0, Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or your local police.