More US porn arrests possible: Qld police

Two US brothers are facing 15-year prison terms if found guilty of making child pornography and emailing it to a Queensland police officer.

More arrests could be made in the US as part of an international child pornography investigation which began in Queensland, police say.

Richard Hastings, 21, and Robert Hastings, 18, of Mayfield, New York, were arrested by US police on Thursday after allegedly sending child pornography to a Queensland police officer posing as a pedophile online.

The officer tipped off US law enforcement agencies, and Queensland Detective Senior Sergeant Stephen Loth believes there could be more arrests.

"You can never fully close out an investigation," he told reporters in Brisbane.

"I would suspect that there would be ongoing investigations in relation to the networks that these offenders were in and potentially other communications that they've had.

"However, that matter is now a US matter and how they would undertake their ongoing investigation is up to them."

Det Snr Sgt Loth said tracking down online predators was difficult work, but the safety of children was always critical.

"Officers undertake a number of training courses that allows them to do that and there's a number of internal process and policies to ensure their welfare is looked after," he said.

"It's certainly confronting work, doing online investigations and posing as an online sex offender."

The brothers are also accused of making a sexually explicit video of the child.

If found guilty of the two counts of producing child pornography they face a statutory minimum sentence of 15 years' jail and a maximum of 30 years.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world