A police officer who allegedly distributed child exploitation material may have to wait until 2025 to access the Internet and contact his lawyers.
Zachary Edward Murphy, 20, made his first appearance in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday after being charged with one count of using a transport service to access child abuse material and one count of using a transportation service to distribute child abuse material.
Court documents seen by NewsWire reveal that police will allege that Constable Murphy used a transport service to access and distribute child abuse material which was “computer generated images” from a home in Deebing Heights in Ipswich between January 27 and on June 29, 2024.
The Southern Region agent was charged on October 18 and granted probation.
He was ordered not to have any contact, directly or indirectly, with any child under the age of 16 unless directly and constantly supervised by a responsible adult, according to the documents.
Officer Murphy was also prohibited from accessing the Internet except for the purposes of self-education, banking or employment while on bail.
During the court appearance Thursday, Officer Murphy’s attorney, Annie Bryan, attempted to modify his bond to allow him to use the Internet to communicate with his “legal and health providers.”
Magistrate Penelope Hay said she would not be modifying his bail in court on Thursday, instead explaining to Ms Bryan that her client would have to make a bail application to modify his conditions.
Zachary Murphy (pictured) allegedly distributed child exploitation material
Constable Murphy was suspended by Queensland Police following his arrest in October.
Ms Hay ordered a full brief of evidence to be provided to Constable Murphy’s legal team and adjourned the matter until January 13 for further mention.
Following Constable Murphy’s arrest in October, Queensland Police suspended him until further notice.
“In line with our commitment to high standards of conduct, transparency and accountability, we have committed to informing the public when a service member faces serious allegations of misconduct,” the QPS said in a statement in October.
“This does not mean that the accusations against the member are substantiated.”