A Hunter man charged with multiple counts related to alleged child abuse material offences remains behind bars after his first appearance in court.
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The Australian Federal Police Child Protection Operations Team arrested Phillip Cheney, 26, at his home on Thursday.
Mr Cheney did not apply for bail - and it was formally refused - when he faced Raymond Terrace Local Court on Friday morning.
The arrest came after the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation was handed a report from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, in the USA, flagging the uploading of child abuse material on several online platforms.
Australian investigators allegedly linked the accounts to Mr Cheney.
Investigators raided his home on Thursday, where they seized a laptop and mobile phone that police allege contain child abuse material.
The phone and computer will be forensically examined.
Mr Cheney was charged with two counts each of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material, using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material and possessing or controlling child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service; as well as one charge of using a carriage service to access child abuse material.
The maximum penalty for these offences is 15 years in jail.
Magistrate Ian Cheetham adjourned the matter and Mr Cheney will face Raymond Terrace Local Court again on October 17.
In a statement, AFP Detective Sergeant Navi Pandher said that watching, downloading or purchasing child abuse material was not a victimless crime.
"There is no less-culpable option when it comes to this type of offending," Detective Sergeant Pandher said.
"Child abuse material is a record of the horrific abuse of children and if you seek it out you are supporting an industry that preys on children."
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