Detectives from Strike Force Trawler arrested four men in NSW after covert stings. Photo / NSW Police
Detectives from Strike Force Trawler arrested four men in NSW after covert stings. Photo / NSW Police
Four men have been arrested in NSW in covert stings into alleged child grooming involving police posing as children online.
Police have swooped on four men in NSW after separate investigations into alleged child grooming in the past week.
Detectives from Strike Force Trawler arrested the men in Kogarah, Orange, Paddington and Westmead respectively after covert stings where officers allegedly posed as children online.
Officers allegedly began to engage online with all four men in the last month.
It will be alleged in court that three of the men believed they were talking with a child and went into sexually explicit details about acts they wished to perform with the minors.
A fourth man is accused of sending child abuse material via his mobile phone.
The Rosebery man, 33, buried his face in his hands following his arrest. Photo / NSW Police
One man, from Sans Souci, was arrested on June 15 after allegedly trying to procure a 13-year-old girl for sex.
Police raided his home, seizing electronic devices, before the man was charged at Kogarah police station with using a carriage service to procure a person under 16 years for sexual activity.
The 43-year-old appeared at Sutherland Local Court on June 18, where he was granted strict conditional bail to reappear at the same court on August 13.
The next day, on June 16, officers swooped on a man in Orange who allegedly thought he was speaking with a 14-year-old girl about sexual acts he hoped to perform with her.
Officers raided his home, seized a mobile phone and arrested the 57-year-old.
He was charged with one count of using a carriage service to groom a person under 16 years for sex.
The man was granted strict conditional bail to Orange Local Court on July 26.
On Thursday, June 17, officers arrested a 55-year-old man at a home in Paddington.
Police will allege in court the man had been speaking with undercover detectives online since earlier this month. Officers searched the home and seized electronic devices.
The man was charged with two counts of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material.
He appeared at Central Local Court the same day, where he was granted strict conditional bail to appear at the Downing Centre Local Court on August 10.
In the fourth incident, on June 18, police arrested a man at Westmead after he allegedly attempted to procure a person whom he believed was a 13-year-old boy for sex.
This man (left) was arrested at Paddington. Photo / NSW Police
Police also raided the man's home in Rosebery and seized electronic devices.
The 33-year-old was charged with two counts of using a carriage service to procure a person under 16 years for sexual activity.
He appeared at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday, where he was refused bail to reappear at the Parramatta Local Court on July 1.
So far this year, investigators from the child abuse and sex crime squad's child exploitation internet unit have executed 27 search warrants and arrested 26 people for 95 offences.
The squad's commander, Detective Acting Superintendent Chris Goddard, said the incidents were a timely reminder for parents and carers to speak with young people about potential dangers online.
"While social media apps allow us to be better connected with people we know, they also provide opportunity for people we don't know to connect with us – and this includes strangers talking to our children," he said.
