Greens activist and former candidate who ran for Scott Morrison's seat is accused of paying $120k for sickening child abuse material over ten years
- Jonathan Peter Doig has been charged with three child sex abuse offences
- Regularly boasting of his greenie credentials online, Doig is a vocal campaigner
- But police will allege that he secretly paid for images of children being abused
- He is alleged to have spent around $120,000 on the sick content over ten years
A prominent Greens activist has been charged with child sex abuse offences, after allegedly paying to watch live streams of children being abused online.
Jonathan Peter Doig, a wannabee Greens MP and one-time challenger for Scott Morrison's seat, was arrested at his Gymea Bay home on Tuesday by AFP officers.
Following a length investigation, the 57-year-old has been accused of paying more than $120,000 over ten years for child abuse material.
This includes paying for the live-streaming of children being abused in the Philippines, according to The Australian.
The climate activist will appear in court on Wednesday charged with numerous offences spanning a decade, including possessing and soliciting child abuse material.
Jonathan Peter Doig (pictured) has been charged with three child sex abuse offences, including procuring a child to engage in sexual activity outside Australia
Another charge is of procuring a child to engage in sexual activity outside Australia, with police alleging he made numerous payments to people overseas who are known to live-stream child sex abuse.
The offences carry maximum sentences of 15 years in prison.
Doig, who has posted on social media about making donations to charities in the Philippines, allegedly sent money to numerous people, including minors.
His social media pages are littered with pro-environmental causes and petitions, boasting of his greenie credentials.
He has even posed with numerous Greens politicians, including former federal Greens leader Richard di Natale and senator Mehreen Faruqi.
Doig (pictured, second from left) with Greens councillor Dominic WY Kanak (left), former federal Greens leader Richard di Natale (second from right) and senator Mehreen Faruqi (right)
An active critic of politicians including American president Donald Trump, he regularly posts provocative political content online, including attacking newspapers and the free press.
Hoping to become an MP himself, Doig once ran against Mr Morrison for the seat of Cook in New South Wales and is often a candidate in state and federal elections.
His grandfather served two terms as a Liberal MP in Burwood, but after failed attempts to get into parliament, Doig became a software engineer.
Regularly attending protests across Sydney, Doig is a proud supporter of Extinction Rebellion, regularly criticising the government and Mr Morrison's stance on coal.
His arrest and charges come after the AFP, Department of Home Affairs, and Britain's National Crime Agency began working with anti-child abuse investigators in Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
Doig (pictured at a climate change protest) is a vocal critic of the government and is often at protests as a member of Extinction Rebellion
AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw has warned that the dark web - which often hides vile child sex abuse content - has become busier during the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this year, he said he would be willing to name and shame tech companies who block officials from finding the identities of these predators.
Several tech giants, including Apple and Facebook, are hoping to enable end-to-end encryption, making it virtually impossible to track a user's activity or identity.
But the Greens, of which Doig is a member, have been critical of the government's plans to allow national security agencies to access such encrypted data.
The move is aimed at targeting online criminals, particularly paedophiles, who can operate on the dark web undetected.
'If I’m feeling as though certain companies are not co-operating, we will actually end up outing them and probably damaging their reputation,' Mr Kershaw told the National Press Club in February.
'That’s one of the techniques law enforcement has used before, to say "if you’re a company that’s going to be obstructionist with law enforcement and not help us out when it comes to protecting our children, then, again, all bets are off".'
