A man will face court today charged over the alleged online procurement of a child after being arrested at Central Railway Station.
In early May 2019, detectives from the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad’s Child Exploitation Internet Unit (CEIU) began engaging online with a man from the Sydney’s eastern suburbs, following reports an 11-year-old girl from regional NSW had been engaging online with the man.
Police will allege in court that the man believed he was speaking with a 11-year-old girl and engaged in conversations about sexually explicit acts he wished to perform on the child before making arrangements to meet with the girl for sex.
Following extensive investigations, strike force detectives, with the assistance of officers from the Police Transport Command, arrested a 40-year-old man at Central Railway Station just after 1.30pm yesterday (Monday 3 June 2019).
During a search of the man, investigators seized a mobile phone, which will undergo forensic examination.
The man was taken to Day Street Police Station, where he was charged with using a carriage service to procure a person under 16 years of age.
He was refused bail and is expected to appear at Central Local Court today (Tuesday 4 June 2019).
Strike Force Trawler is an ongoing investigation by the CEIU into the sexual abuse and exploitation of children facilitated through the internet and related telecommunications devices.
Regular covert online investigations are conducted by the CEIU; and police in NSW work closely with their law-enforcement colleagues interstate and overseas.
Anyone with information about internet predators should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page:
Information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We remind people they should not report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter pages.
