An X-ray technician is set to face at least seven more serious charges after authorities located and rescued child abuse victims overseas, a federal prosecutor has told a Canberra court.
Gowrie man Ernest James Maclay, aged in his 70s, did not appear on Thursday in the ACT Magistrates Court, which heard he had recently suffered a heart attack.
He is yet to enter pleas to five charges of possessing child abuse material and one count of encouraging child sexual activity outside Australia.
Commonwealth prosecutor Luke Fomiatti sought a lengthy adjournment, telling magistrate James Lawton investigations into more than a decade of alleged child abuse were ongoing.
Mr Fomiatti said 25 devices had been seized in connection with Maclay's case, while more than 100,000 pages of online chats were being reviewed.
"Since this matter was last in court, child victims have been located and rescued overseas," he said.
Mr Fomiatti indicated at least seven more strictly indictable charges were likely to be levelled at Maclay.
Documents previously tendered to the court show Maclay came onto the radar of police in August 2022, when authorities in the United States detected an Australian buying "live-distance child abuse material".
This involves the abuse of children, in this case in the Philippines, being live-streamed via the internet.
"For additional fees, perpetrators can instruct a child abuse facilitator to perform specific sexual acts on children at their discretion," court documents state.
Police allege Maclay's devices contained live-distance child abuse material files and messages he had exchanged with a "facilitator".
During a police interview last year, Maclay allegedly told investigators he was "disgusted" with himself.
He allegedly told police he regularly communicated with four women in the Philippines via Skype.
Maclay is said to have told investigators he had more recently used other platforms, the names of which were redacted in court documents, to meet women who would offer him "private shows".
He would then, it is alleged, move the conversation to Skype.
According to police, Maclay recalled paying somewhere between $13 and $26 to watch a woman performing sexual acts on a toddler-aged boy.
Maclay, who remains on bail, is due back in court on September 7.
