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A 45-year-old Melba woman will face court today after allegedly accessing child abuse material on a work computer last week.
On Friday (13 March 2026), the woman’s employer reported to police that she had allegedly accessed text-based stories depicting underage characters involved in sexual exploitation.
Following enquiries, investigators from the ACT Policing’s Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Team executed a search warrant at the woman’s Melba residence yesterday afternoon (15 March 2026).
During the search warrant, officers seized three mobile phones, a laptop, and a hard drive containing child abuse material. The woman was subsequently arrested.
She has been charged with using a carriage service for child abuse material and possess/control child abuse material using a carriage service.
Further forensic examination of the seized devices is ongoing and may result in additional charges.
Anyone with information regarding the accessing or creation of child abuse material is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers ACT website. Information can be provided anonymously.
Note to media: use of term ‘child abuse material’, not ‘child pornography’
Use of the phrase “child pornography” benefits child sex abusers because it:
Indicates legitimacy and compliance on the part of the victim and therefore legality on the part of the abuser; and conjures images of children posing in ‘provocative’ positions, rather than suffering horrific abuse.
Each photograph captures an actual situation where a child has been abused. This is not ‘pornography”.