On a mild autumn morning two years ago, former A Current Affair reporter and registered sex offender Ben McCormack was on his phone, allegedly fantasising about running an orphanage for young boys with another man. According to police, May 2024 was one of his busiest months. Of the 64 charges he allegedly transmitted, published, distributed or promoted child abuse material, 37 allegedly occurred that month alone. The alleged activities took place at the Brisbane home of his elderly parents in Oxley, in the city's south-west, where he would later be arrested.
Background and Arrest
McCormack, now 52, had been a registered child sex offender since 2017. Unemployed and living with his parents, he still described himself as a journalist. Unknown to him, police across three states were already tracking his activity. He had been using FastMeet, a gay introduction and chat service that links callers for messages and live conversations. Police in Victoria, NSW and Queensland had found it was being used to distribute child exploitation material. One user police identified was a convicted interstate child sex offender. McCormack was unaware of the man's identity, but court documents say the pair exchanged anonymous messages.
Alleged Conversations
On the day he was to allegedly make a vile suggestion about little boys, outside it was sunny and clear with light winds. Inside, likely in his bedroom at his parents' Brisbane home, McCormack was allegedly engaged in a live chat with a male caller. The other man's location is unclear, though McCormack told him he visited Melbourne often to see his twin brother, according to court documents. It's a bland remark among some very graphic things police allege McCormack said about what he likes to do to 'little fellas' and 'little dudes', adding 'I love little blond boys'. 'I love little boys, man. Yeah eight, nine. Little seven-year-olds,' he said according to a Queensland Supreme Court brief of evidence obtained by the Daily Mail. 'Oh imagine,' he allegedly says to the other man, 'like, you and me running an orphanage. Yeah, like, all six, seven-year-old boys. I want to have sex with them ... sex with children. Do you want to be a pedo? Travel the world and have ... sex with children. Boy sex. Sex with boys.' He asks the other caller if he has a particular image from a source called Gay Boys Tube, adding: 'There's a lot of sexy boys on there with their undies and Speedos and stuff.'
FastMeet Investigation
Between Anzac Day 2024 and New Year's Eve, McCormack allegedly used FastMeet on more than 60 occasions to transmit or promote child abuse material. Police in Victoria, NSW and Queensland had begun investigating the chat service after October 30, 2020, when FastMeet purged all its pre-existing recordings. According to the court documents, 'Users ring the FastMeet number and create an audio recorded introductory message which can be listened to by other users'. Other users can leave a message in return and the service links callers who matched with each other, who can then trade audio messages left in each other's virtual inbox. Alternatively, they can 'go live' and converse like a normal phonecall while remaining within the platform, or exchange personal phone numbers and call each other. The investigation identified multiple persons in NSW, Victoria and Queensland who 'were using the service to make and distribute audio recorded child exploitation material', according to police.
Further Alleged Remarks
Court documents allege McCormack liked to use the word 'pedo'. He repeated it in many of the conversations which appear in an affidavit by detectives and tendered to court for his bail application. In different alleged recorded chats, McCormack talks about 'pedo-sex', 'paedophile sex', and says 'Yeah I like paedophilia, men/boy sex', 'I f*** little boys. I'm a paedophile. I love kiddy sex. I want to be your pedo daddy.' McCormack had been registered as a child sex offender since December 2017, and has struggled to find work while living at his parents' Brisbane home where, police allege, some of his new counts of child abuse material took place. Police arrested Ben McCormack in April 2017 and charged him with child abuse material offences. Nine years later he is facing multiple similar charges and is behind bars in a Brisbane prison.
Bail and Previous Convictions
McCormack initially signed the bail application, currently adjourned, on February 9 this year on remand at Brisbane Correctional Centre where he has been since his August 2025 arrest. His police mugshot shows a much heavier profile than in his television days, and a greying, receded hairline. McCormack has been registered as a child sex offender since December 2017, when he pleaded guilty in the NSW District Court to two charges of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material. The charges arose from explicit messages he exchanged with a West Australian man via Skype over two years. Using the online name 'Oz4skinboi' and talking about sex with boys, McCormack boasted of being a 'proud ped, proud b lover' and said he would 'always be a p ... always have the attraction'. WA sex crimes detectives were led to McCormack via the man, who was later jailed for 16 months over sharing fantasies about drugging children and raping babies. McCormack was given a three-year, $1,000 good behaviour bond. His television career over, he reportedly tried working menial jobs, but had to quit one when a customer recognised him, and moved to Queensland to live with his parents.
More Alleged Recordings
The multiple recorded conversations in the court documents police allege McCormack had with other FastMeet users took place on mornings, afternoons and in the middle of the night. McCormack allegedly speaks of sex between older brothers with younger brothers, father and son, boys in school uniform and 'my sexy little next door neighbour'. He allegedly talks about having sexual episodes with others his age from when he was eight years old and when reaching high school liking to 'perv on the boys' in 'primary school, like 10 or 11'. On October 27, 2024 he allegedly told another male that he wanted to have sex with 'our best mates' little brothers. F*** ... our mates little brothers.' 'Yeah, little, little kids, man. Little boys. I love preteen.' When the other male agreed, saying 'f*** yeah', McCormack descended into a graphic description of what he physically would do to children. On November 2, McCormack's allegedly says: 'Yeah I love eight-year-old boys the way you just said, like, sexy little eight-year-old dudes ... in bed'. The next day he allegedly says: 'Nothing shocks me. I like sexy little boys.'
Christmas Day Conversation
On Christmas Day, 2024 police say McCormack had a 'go live' conversation with another man about the age of male children which most attracted them. McCormack allegedly said: 'I love them pre-teen probably six or seven up' whereas the other man said 'round about 12, 13'. The 'go live' descended into specific, physical details of such sexual encounters. On December 27, 2024, he allegedly raved about 'young sexy little kids who are really small ... sexy little bodies, sexy little chests, tummies, hairless armpits'. On December 28, he was talking with another male who appeared not to have had sex with children but had 'thought about ... the prospect of it'. The transcripts report that McCormack allegedly responded: 'I like ... little boys. Yeah, just like being with a little boy. Yeah f***ing turns me on big time. I like their little bodies, their hot little chests, their tummies.'
Arrest and Charges
Police arrived at McCormack's parents' house on August 2 last year. The Child Protection Offender High Risk Security Team executed a search warrant on the four-bedroom home. McCormack was arrested and taken to the Brisbane City Watchhouse. He was charged with 64 counts of using a carriage service to transmit or promote child abuse material between April and December 2024. Police charged him with one count of using a carriage service to cause child abuse material to be transmitted to self. He was also charged with three counts of failing to comply with reporting obligations and one count of giving false or misleading information. Early this month Queensland Police charged him with four new counts of using a carriage service for child abuse material, occurring on dates ranging from November 2020 to December 2024. He has not entered pleas on any of the charges.
