Criminal lawyers for Use of carriage service for child pornography material
People who plead guilty to child pornography offences are sentenced to gaol in most cases. If you are charged with child pornography offences our expert criminal lawyers can tell you whether you can beat the charge.
Proving child pornography offences is not easy for the police. There are defences available where you have removed the images from your computer and the police have only located them buried deep in a hard drive. The police must also prove it was you who accessed the images as opposed to another person who had access to the computer.
If the police can prove their case against you and you are to be sentenced, we use psychologists, psychiatrists, and barristers to prepare your case and get you the most lenient sentence possible.
What is “Use of a Carriage Service for Child Abuse Material?
Use of a carriage service for child pornography material or child abuse material is included in the Criminal Code Act 1995 as an offence. Subdivision D- 474.19 Using a carriage Service for Child Pornography Material, in The Criminal Code Act states that;
A person is guilty of this offence if:
- the person:
- accesses material; or
- causes material to be transmitted to himself or herself; or
- transmits, makes available, publishes, distributes, advertises or promotes material; or
- solicits material; and
the person does so using a carriage service; and
- the material is child pornography material.
Criminal Code Act 1995, Subdivision D, Current version (accessed 27 June May 2021 at 13.30pm) https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2014C00793/Html/Volume_2
The maximum penalty for this offence is imprisonment for 15 years.
What is a Carriage Service?
The term ‘carriage service‘ is defined in section 7 of the Act as “a service for carrying communications by means of guided and/or unguided electromagnetic energy.” That means, any communications through your phone, for example, text messages, phone calls, voice messages or social media posts.
What is Child Pornography Material?
Child Pornography or Child Abuse Material in New South Wales is covered under Section 91FB of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) which describes Child Abuse Material as;
- “material that depicts or describes, in a way that reasonable persons would regard as being, in all the circumstances, offensive—
- a person who is, appears to be or is implied to be, a child as a victim of torture, cruelty or physical abuse, or
- a person who is, appears to be or is implied to be, a child engaged in or apparently engaged in a sexual pose or sexual activity (whether or not in the presence of other persons), or
- a person who is, appears to be or is implied to be, a child in the presence of another person who is engaged or apparently engaged in a sexual pose or sexual activity, or
- the private parts of a person who is, appears to be or is implied to be, a child.
- The matters to be taken into account in deciding whether reasonable persons would regard particular material as being, in all the circumstances, offensive, include—
- the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults, and
- the literary, artistic or educational merit (if any) of the material, and
- the journalistic merit (if any) of the material, being the merit of the material as a record or report of a matter of public interest, and
- the general character of the material (including whether it is of a medical, legal or scientific character).
- Material that depicts a person or the private parts of a person includes material that depicts a representation of a person or the private parts of a person (including material that has been altered or manipulated to make a person appear to be a child or to otherwise create a depiction referred to in subsection (1)).
- The private parts of a person are—
- a person’s genital area or anal area, whether bare or covered by underwear, or;
- the breasts of a female person, or transgender or intersex person identifying as female, whether or not the breasts are sexually developed.
A ‘child’ means a person under the age of 16 years.
What are the penalties for use of a Carriage Service for Child Abuse Material?
The maximum penalty applicable if found guilty of the offence is 15 years imprisonment.
Having the right ciminal lawyer on your case, should you be charged with Using a Carriage Service for Child Abuse Material, could mean the difference of receiving the maximum sentence or walking free.
Following are alternative penalties available that the court can impose for this charge.
- Section 10 Dismissal , non-conviction
- Conditional Release Order with or without conviction
- Fine Order with conviction
- Community Correction Order with conviction
- Intensive Correction Order with conviction
- Full-Time Imprisonment with conviction
Being charged with using a carriage service for child abuse material
As outlined in the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) Section 474.22, if you a person has been charged with using a carriage service for child abuse material, the onus is on the prosecution to prove that the accused;
- accessed material; or
- caused material to be transmitted to themselves; or
- transmitted, made available, published, distributed, advertised or promoted material; or
- solicited material; and
- used a carriage service; and
- the material was child abuse material; and
- they engaged in the conduct voluntarily.
If they can’t do this, then the accused will not be found guilty of this child pornography charge.
Defenses for the charge of using a carriage service for child abuse material
While every case is different, there are a number of potential defences that can be used against child pornography charges. Your criminal lawyer will assess the unique circumstances of your case in order to recommend the best approach to building your defence.
Following is a list of just some of the potential defences for this charge;
- to commit this offence, you must intend to deal with the child abuse material. If you prove that you did not know or could not reasonably be expected to have known that you committed the offence, then you are likely to be acquitted.
- If you can establish that the child pornography material came into your possession unsolicited and as soon as you became aware of it, you took reasonable steps to get rid of it then you are likely to be acquitted.
- Your conduct was of public benefit of enforcing or administering the law, monitoring compliance with the law or the administration of justice and did not extend beyond what was of public benefit.
- You are a law enforcement officer acting in the course of your duties and your conduct was reasonable in the circumstances.
- That the material was classified under the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995, other than as refused classification.
- You were conducting research approved in writing by the Attorney General that requires you to deal with the child abuse material.
You can read more about not guilty pleas here.
If you have been charged with this offence, but you are innocent and would like to make a not guilty plea, Australian Criminal Law Group are your best defence. Our criminal lawyers regularly have their clients cases acquitted.
Pleading guilty to using carriage service for child pornography or child abuse material
If you agree that you have committed the offence and the police are able to prove so, it is best to plead guilty. You will normally receive a discount on your sentence, and it will demonstrate remorse and contrition. Our experienced solicitors can negotiate with prosecutors for you to plead guilty to less serious facts, or even a less serious charge.
When someone is sentenced for Use of carriage service for child pornography material, a court will consider the number of images, circumstances in which they were obtained and where the images fall on a scale used to grade the depravity of the images (the more deprave the depiction, the higher the gravity of the offence because the child in them has suffered greater. For example, compare the harm caused by a naked photo of a child to the harm caused to a child engaged in a sexual act).
The offence of Use of carriage service for child pornography material carries a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment in the District Court. This penalty is typically reserved for the worst offenders. Use of carriage service for child pornography material is an extremely serious offence. If you are charged with Use of carriage service for child pornography material, you should contact our office immediately.
Why choose Australia Criminal Law Group?
Our criminal lawyers are experts at obtaining the best outcome possible for sex offences. For these offences, a good lawyer can be the difference between a conviction and no criminal record and freedom or jail.
To discuss your charge of Use carriage service to access child abuse material call Australian Criminal Law Group at our Sydney, Parramatta, and Blacktown offices or make a website inquiry today.
Case Study
Our client was charged with use carriage service for child pornography and possess child pornography. Mr Correy argued that whilst child pornography was on his computer it had been downloaded inadvertently with a bulk amount of adult porn. We argued that our client had so much adult pornography that he had negligently failed to delete the child pornography. He had downloaded by mistake. The Magistrate accepted that whilst our client failed in his duty to remove the child pornography it could not be proven he received sexual gratification from it. The magistrate held whilst normally these offences required a jail sentence the peculiar facts in this case meant he could deal with it by a good behaviour bond.
Case Study
Joseph represented a client charged with using a carriage service to access child abuse material. Police located some 800 photos and 200 videos. He was trying to access age appropriate pornography. Despite being relentlessly argued by the defence the judge found in our client’s favour and did not sentence him to imprisonment.
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Australian Criminal Law Group and its clients make every reasonable effort to ensure the accuracy and validity of the information provided on its web pages. However, given the laws in NSW and Australia are continually changing, Australian Criminal Law Group make no warranties or representations as to its accuracy.