NSW detectives say they assumed the online identity of a child as part of an investigation that led to the arrest of a man living in the New South Wales Riverina over alleged child grooming charges.
Sex Crimes Squad detectives charged 22-year-old man Aiden Nancarrow from the NSW–Victorian border town of Tocumwal with several alleged child grooming offences and possessing child abuse material.
Police say detectives began investigating the man’s online activities in May.
Detectives posed online as a female child, and allege they spoke with Mr Nancarrow.
It’s alleged he then engaged in sexually explicit conversations.
At 6am on Wednesday, detectives executed a search warrant on a Tocumwal property and seized electronic devices that allegedly contained child abuse material.
The 22-year-old man was arrested in Tocumwal on Wednesday and taken to the Finley Police Station. (Wikimedia: Finley Police Station/Mattinbgn/CC BY 3.0)
Mr Nancarrow was arrested and taken to the Finley Police Station, where he was charged with 20 offences related to using a carriage service to procure underage sexual activity and possessing child abuse material.
Wednesday’s arrest was made as part of an ongoing operation called Strike Force Trawler, investigating the sexual abuse and exploitation of children facilitated through the internet and related telecommunications devices.
