DETECTIVES from the State Crime Command’s Sex Crimes Squad have charged a man following an investigation into online grooming in the state’s Hunter region.

Last month, detectives from the Sex Crime Squad’s Child Exploitation Internet Unit (CEIU) began engaging online with a man from the state’s Port Stephens area.

Police will allege in court that the man believed he was speaking with a woman and her daughter aged under ten years, whereby he engaged in highly-sexualised conversations, sent child abuse material and made arrangements to meet them for sexual activity.

Following extensive investigations, strike force detectives arrested a 47-year-old man at Tanilba Bay about 7.30am on Wednesday 15 February 2023.

Investigators later executed a Commonwealth search warrant at a Tanilba Bay home, where several electronic storage devices and other items were seized to undergo further examination.

The man was taken to Raymond Terrace Police Station and charged with use carriage service to groom person intent to procure under sixteen years for sexual activity with another over sixteen years, use carriage service to transmit/publish/promote child abuse, and possess child abuse material.

He was refused bail to appear at Raymond Terrace Local Court yesterday, where he was formally bail refused to appear at Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday 22 February 2023.

Online child safety information can be accessed via the eSafety website at https://www.esafety.gov.au/

Educational packages for parents and children are available from ThinkUKnow, a multi-agency program designed to educate and promote cyber safety.

Visit https://www.thinkuknow.org.au/

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 that may assist Strike Force Trawler investigators is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au.