A chief of education apprehended during a paedophile operation has admitted to possessing obscene child exploitation material.
Tuesday in court, Stephen Joseph Rakich, 67, admitted to possessing child abuse material when police raided his residence on September 1.
The director of e-learning and business systems for Western Australia was apprehended in a massive operation including WA Police, Australian Federal Police, and Australian Border Force.
Stephen Joseph Rakich, 67, admitted in court on Tuesday that he was in possession of child abuse material when police searched his residence on September 1. (pictured, AFP officers check laptops during the raid on 45 suspects earlier this month)
In seven days, police executed 61 search warrants at the residences and properties of 45 alleged child sex offenders.
The vast combined operation, considered to be the largest of its type in Australia, resulted in the filing of 149 charges, including one against Rakich, who appeared in Midland Magistrates Court on Tuesday on a charge of possessing child exploitation material.
Rakich was removed from his position in the WA state government after he was charged following a search of his rural house in Millendon, located on the north-eastern suburbs of Perth.
Lisa Rodgers, director-general of the Department of Education, told The West Australian, “This employee has been suspended.”
I’ve been informed that a department employee who does not interact with students has recently been charged with a crime.
Police Rescued three teenage victims of sexual abuse after 61 search warrant raids on the homes and properties of 45 suspected child sex offenders over the course of seven days (pictured, laptops and hard drives containing alleged child abuse material are inspected by police)
The vast collaborative exercise, which was reportedly the largest of its type in Australia, resulted in 149 charges, including that of Rakich, who appeared in Midland Magistrates Court on Tuesday (pictured, memory cards and hard drives collected in the 45 raids across Western Australia)
Rakich’s LinkedIn page indicates that he has been with the education department since 2008.
In November, he will appear before the District Court on the child abuse material allegations.
Rakich will return to Midland Magistrates Court in February to enter a plea on the additional charge of possessing or copying an indecent or obscene article, for which he has not yet entered a plea.