A federal police officer and his twin brother have been arrested and charged after police discovered hundreds of videos of child exploitation material in their Canberra home.
Joshua Rod Tiffen and Kenan Lee Tiffen, both 41, appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday charged with one count each of possessing child exploitation material.
Kenan Tiffen, an electrician by trade, entered a plea of not guilty and was refused bail while Joshua Tiffen, the police officer, did not apply for release.
Magistrate Beth Campbell said, in refusing Kenan Tiffen's bail application, that it appeared the man's moral compass was significantly damaged.
She described the alleged offences as "base and vile conduct", and had no confidence he would be able to control his impulses nor abide by bail conditions.
The court heard some 462 videos of young girls were uncovered on storage devices found in the Forde home, as well as secret cameras in bedrooms rented to female tenants, who when questioned were unaware of the presence of cameras.
A detective, Trent Madders, was called to give evidence, and said officers were investigating the possibility that child exploitation material had been produced at the home.
A statement of facts tendered in court describes a woman meeting a man named "Matt" on Craigslist in November 2016. He was looking for people interested in modelling work.
"Matt" is alleged to have been Joshua Tiffen.
They struck up a professional relationship filming pornographic videos. The man was in the films but did not show his face.
At "Matt's" home in Forde one day, the woman saw camera equipment in a bedroom.
He allegedly showed her videos that appeared to be young children.
The man allegedly told the woman they were videos of children he had spoken to and he used the image of a young child to speak to other children.
It's alleged he said he would talk to girls and get them to do what he wanted, including undressing and touching themselves.
The woman described one particularly graphic image of a 3 or 4 year old child with her genitals exposed.
A different woman described meeting a man named Kenan on an online service called WeChat.
She went to his home at least once, and he told her he had bought the house with his twin brother.
One night he went to her house for dinner, where he allegedly asked about her neighbours, a Chinese couple with a female child.
He allegedly suggested that she baby sit the girl and he would come over.
They had a conversation about sexual fantasies and he allegedly said he wanted to confide in her a secret, but that she could not judge him.
He allegedly showed her a computer tablet containing about 50 images of children between the ages of 10 and 17.
In March 2019, the first woman received a phone call from a man who identified himself as Josh, the documents allege. He allegedly asked her how motherhood was and she became concerned because she had an infant daughter.
In a statement, police said the officer was immediately suspended from duty.
"All AFP members are expected to behave at all times in a manner that upholds the organisation's core values, reputation and integrity," the statement read.
"As this matter is now before the court, no further comment will be made."
Both men are due back in court at later dates.
