Child porn guilty plea | Northern Rivers News | Local News in Northern Rivers

9th November 2004

A RETIRED Brunswick Heads bank manager caught up in Australia's biggest-ever child porn bust will be sentenced later this month in Tweed Heads Court on a charge of possessing child pornography.

Darrell Paul Langham, 60, of Mullumbimbi Street, Brunswick Heads, pleaded guilty yesterday before Magistrate Jeff Linden to possessing images of naked children aged three to 15 at his home on September 25.

It is believed 800 sheets of paper with pornographic images, some of which were of children, were found at Langham's home.

Tweed Heads solicitor, Michael McMillan, entered the guilty plea for Langham who was then remanded for sentence on November 29.

No bail was required as police did not consider the former bank manager to be a risk of not appearing in court again.

The court was told more charges could be pending as police were analysing computer equipment seized during the raid.

The maximum penalty for the offence is $11,000 or two years' jail.

The Australia-wide police dragnet in September, called Operation Auxin, resulted in more than 150 people across the country being charged with up to 2000 offences.

The bust came after five months of joint investigations with the American FBI.

The crackdown involved 20 websites operated by organised crime groups originating in eastern Europe.

Teachers, doctors, health workers, police and army officers and the owner of three childcare centres were among those charged.

More than 380 computers were seized containing two million pornographic images involving children.

Three people targeted in the operation later committed suicide.

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