Coffs Doctor charged over the alleged incitement of sexual assault against a child

Update: Coffs Harbour specialist Murray Govan has been charged with allegedly inciting the sexual assault of a child in Sydney’s west.

In March 2019, detectives from the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad’s Child Exploitation Internet Unit (CEIU) began engaging online with 49-year-old Govan. 

Police will allege in court that Govan believed he was speaking with the 32-year-old mother of an 11-year-old girl and engaged in conversations about sexually explicit acts he wished to perform on the child as well as with the mother and daughter together.

It will also be alleged that he sent child abuse material before making arrangements to meet with both the woman and girl for sex.

Following extensive investigations, Govan was arrested by strike force detectives outside a hotel at Parramatta about 7.30pm yesterday (Wednesday 10 April 2019).

Strike Force Trawler investigators executed a search warrant in a Parramatta hotel room, where they seized a laptop, mobile phones, electronic storage devices, and children’s toys. These items will undergo forensic examination.

He was taken to Parramatta Police Station and charged with inciting a person as an accessory before the fact to attempted aggravated sexual intercourse of a person between 10 and 14 years of age, and using a carriage service for child pornography.

He was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court today (Thursday 11 April 2019).

Detectives have also executed a search warrant at a property in Coffs Harbour today.

Investigations are continuing.

Strike Force Trawler is an ongoing investigation by the CEIU into the sexual abuse and exploitation of children facilitated through the internet and related telecommunications devices.

Regular covert online investigations are conducted by the CEIU; and police in NSW work closely with their law-enforcement colleagues interstate and overseas.

Anyone with information about internet predators should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au/

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