BACKGROUND

The incident allegedly occurred on March 13 at Cabramatta in Sydney’s south-west.

In June 2020, Strike Force Bensbach was established by the Professional Standards Command (PSC) to investigate reports of misconduct.

About 5.20am (Wednesday 5 August 2020), three search warrants were executed in Sydney’s west.

During the search, officers attached to the PSC Investigations Unit seized a number of items relevant to their inquiries.

The senior constables, who are attached to Bankstown Police Transport Command, were arrested and taken to Hurstville Police Station.

A Seven News article has revealed Angelo Dellosa (‘Dellosa’ here, thereafter), 30, a married father of two from Moorebank was charged with incite aggravated sexual assault, attempted aggravated sexual assault in company, and produce child abuse material.

James Delinicolis (‘Delinicolis’ here, thereafter), 29, from Concord West, was charged with attempted aggravated sexual assault in company, produce child abuse material, and misconduct in public officer.

The allegations are to the effect of:

  1. Delinicolis used his position and authority as a New South Wales police officer to engage a 17-year-old during the course of his duties for the purposes of procuring a sexual relationship.
  2. Both Delinicolis and Dellosa filmed sex acts before attempting to sexually assault the girl.
  3. Dellosa incited Delincolis to carry out the sexual assault.

They were both refused bail at Sutherland Local Court via AVL on the Wednesday 5 August 2020. They will remain in custody at Silverwater’s Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre until their next court appearance on September 15 2020. Police say they are not ruling out further charges. The officers have been suspended without pay and investigations are continuing.

CHILD ABUSE MATERIAL MEANING

Section 91FB of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) (‘Crimes Act’ here, thereafter) states the meaning of child abuse material to be:

(1) In this Division-
“child abuse material” means material that depicts or describes, in a way that reasonable persons would regard as being, in all the circumstances, offensive–

(a) a child as a victim of torture, cruelty or physical abuse, or

(b) a child engaged in or apparently engaged in a sexual pose or sexual activity, or

(c) a child in the presence of another person who is engaged or apparently engaged in a sexual pose or sexual activity, or

(d) the private parts a child.

PRODUCTION, DISSEMINATION OR POSSESSION OF CHILD ABUSE MATERIAL

It is an offence to produce child abuse material pursuant to section 91H of the Crimes Act. The relevant subsections read:

(1) In this section–“produce” child abuse material includes –

(a) film, photograph, print or otherwise make child abuse material, or
(b) alter or manipulate any image for the purpose of making child abuse material, or
(c) enter into any agreement or arrangement to do so.

(2) A person who produces, disseminates or possesses child abuse material is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty–imprisonment for 10 years.

WHAT ACTIONS MAY CONSTITUTE THE OFFENCE OF PRODUCING CHILD ABUSE MATERIAL

Some examples of actions that may constitute the producing of child abuse material can include but is not limited to:

  • Filming a child engaged in a sexual activity;
  • Taking photos of a naked child on a phone or camera; or
  • Printing photos of a child in a sexual pose.

STANDARD OF PROOF

For an accused to be found guilty of producing of child abuse material, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt the accused guilt. That is the high standard of proof that the prosecution must achieve before a magistrate can convict the accused of the offence.

The strength of the prosecution’s case is reliant upon the evidence available to them. If they are able to prove beyond reasonable doubt the accused is guilty of producing child abuse material, the person will be convicted.

RECORDED CRIME REPORT

BOCSAR produces a quarterly and annual report series examining trends in crime reported to, or detected by, the NSW Police Force. These reports focus on statistical trends across a 24-month period. The data is extracted from the Computerised Operational Policing System (COPS) of the NSW Police Force. In the past 24-months, the prevalence of sexual assault reports has gone up by 7.9%. From April 2019 to March 2020 there were 6,405 sexual assault cases reported.

One of the most alarming findings from the report was that sexual assault doubled in Sutherland in the past two years, with an increase of 50.7 per cent. While in Blacktown, there was a 16.6 per cent increase.

CONCLUSION

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