University professor 'who posed as Justin Bieber online to sexually exploit children' charged with almost ONE THOUSAND offences-Steve Robson

Gordon Douglas Chalmers, 42, has been exploiting children online for more than a decade by posing as the singer, police have said

Queensland University of Technology law lecturer Gordon Douglas Chalmers (Photo: QUT)

Police in Australia say a university law professor who posed as Justin Bieber online has been charged with almost 1,000 child sex offences.
Gordon Douglas Chalmers, 42, posed as the pop singer to exploit children online for more than a decade, police said.
The detective leading the case described the breadth of offences committed as "frankly horrendous".
Chalmers, who worked at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, was first detained by Australian police after a tip off from their counterparts in Germany and the US.

Chalmers is said to have been impersonating pop singer Justin Bieber online (Photo: Getty)

He was charged last November with offences including possessing child exploitation material and grooming persons under 16.
Opposing bail for Chalmers at the time, police said he had "refused" to give them access to his social media accounts and cloud servers.
But since then, further examination of his laptop has uncovered the full scale of his shocking offending, police said.
Since 2007, Chalmers has been posing as Justin Bieber on platforms including Facebook and Skype to groom victims, it is claimed.
Police said "a large amount" of child exploitation material was discovered.

Police say Chalmers used platforms including Facebook and Skype to groom his victims (Photo: Reuters)

It is not known what countries the man targeted, but police said the case demonstrated "the global reach and skill" that child sex offenders possess.
The man has now been charged with a further 931 offences including, rape, indecent treatment of children and making child exploitation material.
Detective Inspector Jon Rouse said: "This investigation demonstrates both the vulnerability of children that are utilising social media and communication applications and the global reach and skill that child sex offenders have to groom and seduce victims.
"The fact that so many children could believe that they were communicating with this particular celebrity highlights the need for a serious rethink about the way that we as a society educate our children about online safety.
"The breadth of offences committed in this instance are frankly horrendous and I want to recognise the efforts and commitment of the investigative team at Taskforce Argos to keeping children safe."
Chalmers is due back in court in Brisbane on April 6.

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