A North Nowra man has pleaded not guilty to possessing more than 400 images of child abuse material.
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Joshua Dean Mennie, 29, pleaded not guilty to the charge of possessing child abuse material and another charge of possessing a prohibited drug before registrar Craig Cockburn in Nowra Local Court on Friday, February 21.
Court papers said between January 1, 2018 and November 7, 2019 Mennie was allegedly in possession of 232 images classified on the Interpol Baseline as category one and 173 images classified at category two.
The baseline system allows partners in the public and private sectors to recognise, report and remove known child sexual abuse material from their networks.
The four-category system is used to differentiate between two different types of illegal child exploitation material and also incorporates non-illegal and ignorable images for their potential to provide "clues" to identify victims and offenders.
Category one Interpol Baseline depicts real prepubescent children (under the age of 13 years approximately) where the child is involved in a sexual act, is witnessing a sexual act or the material is focused/concentrated on the child's anal or genital region.
Category two includes other illegal files or files that are illegal according to local legislation either by way of age or content.
He also faces a charge of possessing a prohibited drug with police alleging he was in possession of three small resealable bags containing 2.6 grams of cocaine at North Nowra on January 23, 2020.
The matters will return to court in April.
Read more: Crime/Court