SYDNEY: A South Australian politician has been charged with four child pornography offences, police said on Thursday, as the state’s Premier Mike Rann expressed shock at the arrest.The Labor MP, who cannot be named due to automatic suppression orders in South Australia on such charges, was seized at his Adelaide home on Wednesday when police reportedly took away computers and other material.
He was charged with one count of possessing child pornography, one aggravated count of possessing child pornography and two counts of taking steps to access child pornography.Police told the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper that his arrest was the result of the Sexual Crime Investigation Branch’s “Operation Decimate”, which targets people who use the Internet for child exploitation-related offences.The man was released on bail and is due to appear at Adelaide Magistrates’ Court on May 20.A grim-faced Rann, already struggling with slumping support, said his government would cooperate fully with the authorities.”Like others, I was shocked by reports I read in the newspaper this morning,” he said in a statement.”It would be against the law for me to comment on the allegations as the matter is now before the courts.”The government will, of course, fully co-operate with the police in the investigation,” – Yahoonews
