Website shut down

An elderly Sydney man has been issued with a court summons regarding pornographic material of children posted on a website. Officers from the Australian Federal Police and NSW Police raided 72-year-old Geoffrey Leonard's home in Hornsby, in Sydney's north, yesterday and seized computer equipment.

Leonard was issued with a court attendance notice over using a carriage service for child pornographic material and child abuse material. The website was shut down last night, an AFP spokesman said. The AFP said it is illegal to use the internet to promote child sexual abuse, regardless whether the material is photographic, video or explicit text.

Last week the executive director of anti-pedophilia group Bravehearts said she was shocked by the website's contents. She said she was told by Queensland police the site was not illegal but called on authorities to act nonetheless. Leonard is expected to face Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on April 18.

source: 'Child porn site shut down' by Jano Gibson; www.smh.com.au/news/national/child-porn-site-shut-down/2006/03/08/1141701555592.html; The Sydney Morning Herald (AAP); 8 March 2006