A 22-year-old NSW Police constable has been charged with allegedly accessing child abuse material and committing several weapons-related offences, following a search of his Sydney home. The case matters because it involves a serving police officer and has prompted a review of his employment status.

Police say detectives seized digital devices, a gel blaster, butterfly knives and ammunition during the raid. The constable, attached to the North West Metropolitan Region, was refused bail after appearing in Burwood Local Court; the charges include using a carriage service to access child abuse material, possessing ammunition without authorisation, possessing an unauthorised pistol and possessing or using a prohibited weapon without a permit. The case follows another NSW officer’s guilty plea over possessing and transmitting more than 300 child abuse files.