Detectives from the State Crime Command’s Sex Crimes Squad have charged a man over alleged child pornography offences in the state’s Hunter region.

In 2012, officers from a law enforcement partner agency were conducting a covert investigation into the alleged activity of a 50-year-old man on a peer-to-peer file sharing program.

It’s alleged the man shared a number of files deemed to be child abuse material.

As a result of these investigations, a Commonwealth Search Warrant was issued for the man’s Weston home.

Yesterday morning (Wednesday 21 January 2015), detectives from the State Crime Command’s Sex Crime Squad executed the warrant, seizing computers, external storage devices and mobile phones.

The 50-year-old man was arrested at the premises and taken to Cessnock Police Station, where he was charged with two counts of using a carriage for child pornography.

The man was granted strict conditional bail to appear before Cessnock Local Court on Thursday 26 February 2015).

Strike Force Trawler is an ongoing Child Exploitation Internet Unit investigation into the sexual abuse and exploitation of children facilitated through the internet and related telecommunications devices.

Regular covert online investigations are conducted by the Child Exploitation Internet Unit and police in NSW work closely with their law enforcement colleagues interstate and overseas.

Anyone with information about internet predators should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: https://www1.police.nsw.gov.au/.

Information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We remind people they should not report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Meanwhile, police are again urging parents and children to be mindful of the dangers associated with the internet.

Safe internet use – tips for parents:

• Be aware of how much time your child spends on the internet.

• Spend time talking to your child about the dangers associated with online conversations.

• Spend time exploring the internet with your children and let them teach you about their favourite websites.

• Keep the computer in a room the whole family can access; not in your child’s bedroom.

• Consider installing filtering and/or computer blocking software provided by your internet service provider. The Netalert web page provides information on a number of commercially-available products at www.netalert.net.au.

• Ensure you are able to access your child’s email and randomly check the contents.

• Check your phone bill for unusual outgoing calls, or consider using a ‘caller ID’ device to identify incoming calls.

• Consult your telephone company for options designed to ensure privacy and security.

• Enquire with your child’s school, public library, and places they frequent, to find out what internet safety measures they have in place.

• Information on internet safety is available on the NSW Police website at: http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/community_issues/children/child_exploitation

Tips for children:

• Do not send a picture of yourself to anyone you don’t know and never place a full profile and picture anywhere on the internet.

• Never give out your personal information, including name, home address, phone number or school, over the internet.

• Never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone you have chatted with on the internet.

• Tell your parents or another adult you know of any contact that makes you feel uncomfortable.

• Remember that pressing ‘send’ is definite and final – you can’t get it back or take it down.