Arabic version: سجن رجل من كانبرا بسبب مواد إساءة معاملة الأطفال

According to ABC News, Canberra man Lachlan Prescott Hewatt has been sentenced for posing online as a teenage girl to obtain and distribute child abuse material.

Australian Border Force officers found suspected child abuse material on Hewatt’s phone after he arrived on an international flight at Sydney Airport in April last year. An Australian Federal Police investigation found the 22-year-old received and sent about 50 files between 2022 and 2024.

Hewatt was arrested at Sydney Airport last year and pleaded guilty to possessing, transmitting and causing the transmission of child abuse material. The New South Wales District Court sentenced him to one year and eight months’ imprisonment.

The court ordered that he serve three months in custody before being released on a recognisance order. His release is conditional on good behaviour and compliance with Community Corrections Service supervision.

AFP Detective Superintendent Luke Needham said the case demonstrated deceptive methods used to exploit children and said child abuse material was not a victim-less crime. He said every image and video depicts abuse and exploitation, with further harm caused whenever material is viewed, shared or distributed.