Sydney man accused of grooming children online charged with serious offences – including allegedly targeting child under 10
Two men have been arrested in Sydney as part of an ongoing police operation targeting online child predators, with one accused of attempting to arrange to meet a young girl for sexual intercourse after grooming her online. The arrests, made under Strike Force Trawler, involved detectives working undercover online to identify and catch alleged groomers, and highlight continuing efforts by New South Wales police to combat online child exploitation.
A 69-year-old man was arrested in Campbelltown, in Sydney's outer south-west, on Monday after travelling from Port Kembla, and has been charged with inciting sexual intercourse with a child under 10, using a carriage service to groom a child under 16, failing to comply with reporting obligations, and breaching a prohibition order; he was refused bail and is due back in Campbelltown Local Court on 11 November. A second man, aged 66, was arrested in Beaumont Hills, north-west Sydney, on Tuesday over the alleged grooming of a girl under 16 and sharing child abuse material, facing charges of using a carriage service to groom a child and making child abuse material available; he too was refused bail and was due to appear at Parramatta Local Court on Wednesday.
- Two Sydney men arrested in separate alleged online child grooming cases
- 69-year-old accused of targeting a child under 10 for sex
- 66-year-old charged with grooming and sharing child abuse material
- Both refused bail under police operation Strike Force Trawler
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Sydney police have arrested two older men, aged 69 and 66, in separate operations as part of Strike Force Trawler, a New South Wales police initiative aimed at catching people who groom children online. Detectives working undercover pose as children or other targets on the internet to identify adults engaging in grooming behaviour, which is when an adult builds a relationship with a child, often through messaging apps or social media, with the intention of sexually abusing them.
Both men face charges under laws covering the use of a "carriage service" (a legal term for phone or internet networks) to groom children, alongside other serious offences. One case involves allegations concerning a child under 10, while the other involves alleged sharing of child abuse material. Both have been refused bail and are due to face separate local courts.
Cases like this matter because they reflect ongoing concern among police and child safety advocates about the risk posed to children by adults using online platforms to make contact with them, and they illustrate the tactics law enforcement uses to intervene before physical harm occurs. At this stage, the charges are allegations that have not been tested in court.