Man charged with accessing child porn

A missing persons investigation has led to a 42-year-old man being charged with using a computer to access child abuse material on the NSW Central Coast.

Police said that officers investigating the case of Ronald Penn, who went missing aged 61 in 1995, allegedly discovered the material during a covert surveillance operation undertaken late last year.

Police went to a home in Killarney Vale on Thursday morning and arrested a 42-year-old man.

Cannabis and a number of electronic items, including a mobile phone, were seized.

The man has been charged with 20 counts of using a carriage service to access child abuse material and one count of cannabis possession.

He was refused bail to appear in Wyong Local Court on Thursday.

In December last year new information prompted police to search a Central Coast property where Mr Penn was last seen in 1995.

Detective Inspector David Waddell said at the time there were people in the community who knew what happened to Mr Penn but were either afraid or unwilling to share that information.