South Australia's new laws promise longer jail sentences for child abusers. The new laws state that the maximum sentence for gross indecency is increased from five to 15 years.

Additionally, people caught with child sex dolls face 10+ years in prison.

Online predators who download, share or create child abuse material do not receive leniency if the ages of their victims are unknown.

Attorney General Kyam Maher said South Australia said that this part of the country now has the strictest laws in the country to protect children and punish offenders.

He said:

"The penalties imposed on predators now better reflect the life-long impacts left on their victims."

"Our government has listened to survivors of child sex abuse and their families, and we are proud to deliver tough new laws that will appropriately punish predators."

The changes came after the Royal Australian Air Force intelligence officer admitted to 230 crimes related to children.

Sergeant Jacob Donald Walsh pleaded guilty in one of the biggest cases related to child abuse in the country.

Walsh worked in electronic intelligence for the Defence Science and Technology Group at RAAF Base Edinburgh, north of Adelaide.

Walsh was charged with child sexual exploitation, abuse, and online grooming and blackmailing children.

The Advertiser reported that South Australia's Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (JACET) produced 88.000 pages of evidence against Walsh.

Walsh was initially charged with two offenses in May 2021. In August 2021, he was charged with 45 crimes.

Walsh used apps to groom the victims and solicit child abuse material. Thanks to forensic evidence, he was forced to cooperate with the police.

Prosecutor said at the time:

"In excess of 1,000 messages, consisting of between 10,000 and 60,000 lines of chat each directly relates to grooming children for specific sexual activities."

"We will allege Sergeant Walsh has been leveraging that material against the children to make them amenable to more serious offenses."