Accused paedophile is arrested after police allegedly find two ‘anatomically correct’ child sex dolls from China and a stash of child porn at his home
- Terry John Dunnett, 44, has been charged with possessing child-like sex dolls
- Two ‘anatomically correct’ dolls allegedly found at the man’s Riverhills home
- A third doll was allegedly found in a shipment from China, sparking the raid
A Brisbane man charged with possessing child-like sex dolls has appeared in court.
Terry John Dunnett, 44, is the first person in Queensland to be charged for the offence under new Commonwealth laws targeting child abuse-related offences.
Officers allegedly seized two of the anatomically correct dolls from Dunnett’s house, after finding one in a shipment from China.
Dunnett was released on bail to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on April 3.
Police raided Dunnett’s home in Riverhills on the outskirts of Brisbane on January 25 after border force officials allegedly found a child-like sex doll in a shipment from China five days earlier.
The two dolls allegedly seized from a Riverhills home in Brisbane on January 25
During the raid, police also seized a tablet and a laptop which they said contained child abuse material.
Dunnett was charged with two counts of possessing a childlike sex doll, one count of attempting to possess a child-like sex doll and one count of possessing child exploitation material.
The three charges relating to child sex dolls carry a maximum penalty of 15 years’ prison each, while the child exploitation material charge has a maximum of 14 years, police said.
Commonwealth laws made it illegal to possess child sex dolls such as the one pictured above as of September 20 and the penalty carries a maximum jail term of 15 years
This sex doll and the one pictured above were described as ‘anatomically correct’ by police and were allegedly confiscated from the Riverhills home
It became illegal to own sex dolls that look like children in Australia under Commonwealth legislation that took effect on September 20 last year, and the offence carries a potential 15-year jail term.
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Assistant Commissioner Lesa Gale said child sex dolls could reinforce the sexualisation of children and desensitise people to the harm caused by sexual abuse.
‘Child sex dolls are not harmless and do not prevent people from offending in the future,’ she said.
‘The Australian Federal Police will pursue any form of child exploitation or activity that reinforces the sexualisation of children. This includes sexual acts using items depicting children such as child sex dolls, which are legally considered child exploitation material.’
Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Lesa Gale said the dolls do not prevent people from offending and they are not harmless
The AFP referred to research by the Australian Institute of Criminology that found the use of child-like sex dolls may encourage offenders to move from viewing online child abuse to abusing real children, although this had not been proven.
The research also found the dolls may cause offenders to objectify children as sexual beings, and there is a risk they may use them to groom children for sex.
Australian Border Force regional commander for Queensland Chris Waters said the arrest should warn anyone who thinks they can import child abuse material, that they would be caught.
‘Child sexual abuse is a rapidly evolving global issue and the ABF actively cooperates with our law enforcement partners to further investigate these matters domestically and internationally, to prevent any harm to children here or overseas’ he said.