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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Blake Foden

Man caught with child abuse material pleads guilty

A man caught with child abuse material and a hidden camera at his suburban Canberra home has pleaded guilty to three charges.

Geoffrey Robert Appleby, who pleaded guilty on Thursday to three child abuse charges. Picture: Facebook

Geoffrey Robert Appleby has been in custody since ACT Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team investigators carried out a raid and arrested him in Higgins on August 12.

The 44-year-old appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court via phone from Canberra's jail, the Alexander Maconochie Centre, on Thursday morning.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child abuse material on the date of his arrest, and one count of using a carriage service to access child abuse material in October last year.

Police have said the child abuse material found during the raid was stored on Appleby's electronic devices, but further details of his crimes have not yet been aired in court.

Appleby's barrister, Alyn Doig, said on Thursday that investigations into his client were ongoing.

However, he told the court he hoped to have the matter committed to the ACT Supreme Court for sentence as soon as possible.

Mr Doig said Appleby was "going to be seen by an expert" early next month, but did not elaborate on who this person was.

Magistrate Bernadette Boss adjourned the case until October 15, noting a committal would likely take place on that occasion.

Appleby remains behind bars on remand.

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