A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack has been charged after he allegedly sent child abuse material and engaged in explicit conversations about children with another man online.
McCormack, a long time on-air talent for the Nine Network program, was stopped on Driver Avenue at Moore Park by detectives from the Sex Crimes Squad at 7.30am on Thursday and taken to Redfern police station.
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A Current Affair reporter arrested
Channel Nine reporter Ben McCormack is arrested and charged with sending child pornography material.
The 42-year-old had been under investigation by the Sex Crime Squad's child exploitation internet unit and has now been charged with using a carriage service for child pornography material.
"Police will allege in court the man was engaged in sexually explicit conversations about children with an adult male and discussed child pornography," NSW Police said in a statement.
A search warrant was executed at McCormack's home at Alexandria, in the city's inner-south, and officers also raided the Willoughby office of A Current Affair, at the Nine Network studios in Sydney's north, on Thursday morning.
Police seized computers, a mobile phone and electronic storage devices.
McCormack was granted police bail and will appear at the Downing Centre Local Court on May 1.
He has retained the services of high profile solicitor Sam Macedone, who regularly appears on A Current Affair, where he is often seen commenting on legal matters arising from neighbourhood disputes or scam artists.
Macedone describes himself on Twitter as a "regular" on ACA, the Today Show and Today Extra, all Channel Nine programs.
The police investigation into McCormack followed a tip off from the Joint Anti Child Exploitation team - a joint-agency taskforce that cracks down on crimes against children.
His arrest and charging was part of Strike Force Trawler, a police operation that is using undercover stings to catch alleged online predators.
The strike force has arrested almost one person per week this year, with many more cases passed to local police.
Those arrested have been diverse: from teenagers to 70-year-olds, school teachers, fathers, defence force members, priests, police academy students and aspiring politicians.
McCormack's arrest was the lead item on Channel Nine's 3pm news bulletin.
The network reported that he had been questioned but not charged, although charges might be laid on Thursday afternoon.
Nine's news and current affairs director Darren Wick confirmed to staff that police officers had been at the network's Willoughby offices "investigating matters relating to a staff member at A Current Affair".
He stressed that the investigation "does not relate to the program or Nine". He said the network was co-operating with the police.
"However, we are not in a position to comment any further as this is an ongoing investigation," he said in a note to staff sent out following the raid.
As a reporter, McCormack had doggedly pursued child sex offenders on ACA over the years.
In 2014, he sat in court as former Hey Dad! television star Robert Hughes learnt of his guilty verdict. He also phoned Hughes' victim Sarah Monahan, who had told her story on A Current Affair, to tell her.
with Georgina Mitchell