Vile paedophile Andrew William Launer caught with more than 2000 files of child exploitation material

A serial child sex pest who’s been in and out of prison has learnt his fate after being busted with more than 2000 depraved images.

A serial child sex predator who spent eight years behind bars for the vile sexual assault of a child under 12 has learned his fate for yet again committing a child sex offence.

Andrew William Launer, 58, had more than 2000 images of child exploitation material along with more than a dozen videos.

A majority of the 2742 images and more than two-thirds of the 15 videos were aggravated files meaning the children depicted were under the age of 14, the court heard.

Earlier this week in the Mount Gambier District Court prosecutor Adam Hamilton said Launer had learnt little from his time spent in custody.

Launer’s defence lawyer Timothy Blake told the court his client preferred life behind bars compared with life on the outside.

“It is clear that the penalties that have been imposed in the past have little determining impact,” Mr Hamilton said.

“Primary consideration must be given to the protection of the community.”

Convicted child sex offender Andrew William Launer has been caught with over a thousand images of child exploitation material. Picture: File

Launer was charged with one count of aggravated and one count of basic possession of child exploitation material.

He faces a maximum of seven years imprisonment for the basic count and 10 years for the aggravated charge.

The man has been in custody since his March 2 arrest in 2022.

Launer has a history of committing child sex offences and was previously sentenced for two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 12.

He was also convicted on two further counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and two counts of gross indecency, the court heard.

He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for those crimes with a non-parole period of six years before he was released.

Launer was also sentenced to six months imprisonment for his failure to comply with his reporting obligations and has previously been sentenced for possession of child exploitation material.

Mr Blake said his client’s life had been “tragic”, suffering severe abuse as a child himself, who now seems more comfortable in prison than he does on the outside.

“He states that the people in prison know him — they treat him with respect,” Mr Blake said.

“(Whereas when) he was living in a boarding house previously — he was being harassed and hassled.”

Judge Gordon Barrett said the serious repeat offender would have served five years if not for his early guilty plea.

Launer was handed a four-year and one-month jail term with a non-parole period of three years and three months.

The sentence was backdated to his March 2, 2022 arrest.