Man Accused of Soliciting Nine-Year-Old Girl

After a gruelling month long investigation conducted by Task Force Trawler, Sydney detectives have taken a 48-year-old man from Westmead, in Sydney’s west into custody, the charge being trying to solicit a nine-year-old for sex soliciting.

The man was allegedly trying to convince a mother to let him have sex with her nine-year-old girl, when the mother turned out to be an undercover detective. The task force was setup by the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad’s Child Exploitation Internet Unit.

Police will allege in court that the assailant believed he was talking to the 39-year-old mother of the young girl and stated to her what acts he wanted to perform on the child,’ police said in a statement.

Highly trained detectives who specialise win sexual assault, serious physical abuse and extreme cases of neglect, started an operation in April in which they would communicate with the suspect.

A little while after his arrest, a search warrant was issued at a home at Breakfast Point where investigators seized a number of electronic devices, which are set to undergo further examination by police.

‘The assailant was taken to Granville Police Station and was charged with use carriage service to procure a child under 16 years old for sexual activity,’ police said in an interview. He has since been refused bail and is due to appear at Fairfield Local Court on Tuesday.