Jakarta: Aussie Military Officer Faces Charges of Child Pornography
A senior military officer (name withheld) working for the Australian Embassy in Jakarta faced 11 charges of child porn as he was allegedly producing child abuse material. Some of the children featured in the porn materials were allegedly known to the officer.
Apparently, the Australian Federal Police gained access to his Jakarta home while the officer was in Australia. The police told his wife that they were investigating child abuse case tracked from an IP address near the family's home. They 'lied' to his wife, saying they were not accusing her husband of anything.
"This is not an investigation about you, or your son, or your husband or your daughter," the AFP allegedly told the wife. They were then allowed to search their home.
While the search was happening in his Jakarta home as consent was already given by his wife, the officer was already in the custody of the AFP without a warrant. He spoke to police and allowed them to examine his computer, admitting it contained adult pornography.
For lawyer Jack Pappas who was representing the officer, the AFP lied to the wife to gain access to the house, thereby nullifying all the evidences gathered against him.
In a committal hearing in Darwin on Feb 10, Mr Pappas assert that if a person is misled, their consent is not tuppence. He accused the AFP of impropriety and that police statements should be rendered useless.
But Crown Prosecutor argued that the evidence was stronger than any lie committed by the police.
"The question is whether they were simply economical with the truth or whether they were there to hoodwink (her)," Mr Cavenagh said.
He will decide whether to set the case for trial on Wednesday.
AFP on the other hand said that they did not work together with police in Indonesia to avoid bad publicity for the country.
For detective Superintendent Sandra Booth, the suspect was in Australia at the time of the search and that Indonesian police had no jurisdiction in the country. Hence, informing Indonesian police were unnecessary.