Man charged with child pornography after allegedly promising to send images of his unborn baby
IN A case that is set to shock the nation, a Brisbane man has been charged with child pornography after promising to send explicit images of his newborn baby via the internet.
Ashley David Hill, 23, a chef from the northside suburb of Chermside, allegedly promised to send images of his newborn baby being abused to an undercover FBI agent posing as a pedophile in the US.
Hill fronted the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Saturday charged with using a carriage service for child pornography material and three counts of possessing child pornography, following his arrest by Australian Federal Police on Friday.
He was allegedly using a file-sharing service to send and receive child pornography images with another person via the internet.
It was alleged the man’s partner was just weeks away from giving birth when he allegedly brokered an online deal to supply images of his newborn baby being abused to the undercover agent in the US.
The Sunday Mail understands the soon-to-be-father provided a scanned copy of a recent ultrasound of his unborn child to the agent as proof of his preparedness to follow through with the plan.
It was not clear whether the man organised monetary payment for the abuse images of his newborn child or whether they were to be in exchange for further child exploitation images from the US contact.
Federal police searched the man’s home on Friday following a tip-off from authorities overseas and allegedly found a large number of child exploitation images on computers and hard drives in the man’s possession.
Lawyer Rhianna Batt applied for bail on the man’s behalf yesterday, subject to strict conditions requested by police.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Matt Kahler asked that the man be banned from using the internet, not have any unsupervised contact with children aged under 16, not attend any point of international departure and that he reside at a home in Chermside while on bail.
Ms Batt said her client was willing to comply with all conditions, adding that because he worked as a chef there was no reason for him to use the internet.
Magistrate Tina Previtera granted bail subject to onerous conditions, including that he surrender his passport to authorities.
No one was waiting for the man as he was released from the Brisbane City Watchhouse and he made no comment to waiting media.
He will front court again on February 13.
If convicted, the man faces up to 15 years behind bars under the Commonwealth Criminal Code.
