A Wollongong man has been refused bail after being charged with dozens of offences related to child abuse material, marking the end of a two-and-a-half-year investigation by NSW Police. Matthew Roberts, 37, was arrested at his home in Wollongong on Tuesday morning following a raid on a property in South Nowra, where police seized mobile phones, laptops, and iPads allegedly containing a large amount of child abuse files.
Roberts faces 21 charges, including 13 counts of using a carriage service to make available child abuse material and five counts of possessing child abuse data. During a brief mention in Sydney's online bail court, his solicitor Matthew Zappia said there would be no application for bail. Roberts has not yet entered pleas to the charges.
The arrest is the culmination of Strike Force Glandore, which investigated an international cloud storage platform used to share child abuse files. The operation resulted in 62 arrests in NSW, including 60 men and one woman, and the seizure of the largest amount of child abuse material in a single investigation in the state's history. Police said the cloud-based folder was accessed by about 700 people.
Sex Crimes Squad Acting Superintendent Adam Powderly described the operation as historic, noting that detectives worked tirelessly to investigate every alleged offender in NSW. He said the accused came from all walks of life, with ages ranging from 18 to late 70s, and that nearly 400 charges had been laid across 150 property raids.
During the investigation, police identified 20 children across Australia from the images and took action to ensure their protection. Superintendent Powderly credited improved police technology and cooperation from the cloud-based company for enabling investigators to access linked accounts despite user anonymity.
Roberts's matter has been adjourned to Wollongong Local Court on July 1. NSW Police continue to work with the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation and other states to track down remaining alleged offenders.
