Convicted child sex abuser John Edward Madex found with child exploitation material

A Mount Gambier man who sexually abused a seven-year-old girl in the 1980s will likely be imprisoned after he was found with ‘depraved’ child exploitation material, a court has heard.

A man with history of committing child sexual abuse will likely be imprisoned for accessing vile child exploitation material, a court has heard.

John Edward Madex’s internet search history was filled with horrific terms including rape, virgins and daddy-daughter, a court has heard.

Prosecutor Georgina Nicholson described Madex, 74, as “depraved” with a “sexual inclination” towards little girls.

John Edward Madex has pleaded guilty to obtaining child exploitation material. Picture: Arj Ganesan

Madex is a serious sexual offender and was convicted of committing sexual abuse on a seven-year-old on “at least three occasions”, the court heard.

“He clearly has a very strong sexual interest in little girls,” Ms Nicholson said.

“It’s still concerning that when speaking to a psychiatrist, he was unable to admit the truth of the reason for his offending.”

Madex pleaded guilty to accessing child exploitation material in the Mount Gambier District Court.

Ms Nicholson said the production of child exploitation material was a global market with producers empowered by people like Madex who create a market for it.

“This is not a victimless crime. The material that the defendant has viewed has very real victims,” Ms Nicholson said.

The defendant initially believed accessing child exploitation material was harmless as he “wasn’t hurting anyone”.

However, his lawyer Kate Annells told the court her client now understood his actions are “creating the conditions whereby children are abused”.

John Edward Madex was previously convicted child sexual abuse against a seven-year-old in the 1980s. Picture: Arj Ganesan

The court heard Madex had a difficult childhood and was looking after himself on the streets by the age of 14.

When he was 24, the defendant was due to be married to a woman he had impregnated, but on his wedding day he lost his best friend, pregnant fiance and future father in-law after they died in a horror crash with a petrol truck.

Following the loss he became a heavy drinker and has little memory of the subsequent 10 years, a court has heard.

Ms Annells said there was a potential home detention address, but said it was understood a term of imprisonment was more than likely “inevitable”.

Madex will next front the district court in November and where he is expected to be sentenced.