A 37-year-old man from Windang has been arrested and charged as the final alleged offender in a major child abuse investigation that led to the seizure of the largest amount of such material in New South Wales history.
Matthew Roberts was taken into custody about 5am yesterday after police raided a property in South Nowra, seizing mobile phones, laptops and iPads allegedly containing a large amount of child abuse files. He 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.
Roberts appeared in Sydney's online bail court today, where his solicitor Matthew Zappia said there would be no application for bail. The matter was adjourned to Wollongong Local Court on July 1. Roberts has not yet entered pleas.
The arrest marks the culmination of Strike Force Glandore, a two-and-a-half-year investigation into an international cloud-based image-sharing folder accessed by 700 people. The operation resulted in 62 arrests across NSW, with 60 men and one woman also charged, and just under 400 charges laid overall.
Sex Crimes Squad Acting Superintendent Detective Adam Powderly described the investigation as historic, noting that detectives worked tirelessly to identify every NSW-based alleged offender. He said the suspects came from all walks of life, with ages ranging from 18 to their late 70s, and that 150 property raids were conducted.
Police also identified 20 children across Australia from the images and have taken steps to ensure their protection. NSW investigators continue to collaborate with the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation and other states to track down remaining alleged participants.
