Robert Andrew McPherson, a 63-year-old man from Henty in New South Wales, collapsed in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday moments after a magistrate approved a media application granting access to the 62 child sex charges he faces. He was wheeled out of the courtroom on a stretcher. The case matters because it involves allegations of overseas "sex tourism" and the exploitation of a child, prosecuted by the Australian Federal Police.

Police allege McPherson travelled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, late last year, where he sexually abused a child on multiple occasions in November and produced child abuse material. He was arrested at Melbourne Airport on 26 November, allegedly carrying such material, and immediately charged. A wider AFP investigation is said to have uncovered a prolonged pattern of offending, including alleged sexual activity with a child overseas on at least 18 dates while he was at home in Henty and once while in Frankston, Melbourne, plus counts of transmitting and accessing child abuse material. A further 61 charges were laid in February this year, and he was bailed to appear in court at a later date.