Simon Duncan jailed for 12 months for sending underage sex videos to an undercover cop

A Catholic logistics manager has been jailed after his “macabre fascination” with underage sex videos, and $35k penchant for sex workers, was revealed in court.

A Catholic logistics manager who sent sexually explicit videos to an undercover cop got into nearly $35,000 debt due to an 18-year penchant for sex workers, a court has heard.

Simon Duncan, 48, faced the District Court of South Australia on Tuesday morning charged with various counts of disseminating and possessing child exploitation material.

The Greenacres man pleaded guilty at a previous hearing.

The court heard Duncan sent videos to an undercover police officer purporting to be a 37-year-old woman between April 20 and May 19 last year, including material involving a child as young as “around the age of five”.

“You said your preferred age range was eight to 12-year-old girls,” Judge Liesel Chapman said on Tuesday.

“And indicated you wanted to send... ‘pics and stories of what gets me hard’.”

Material included a “sexually explicit story” involving a 12-year-old girl, and four video files depicting children under the age of 14 engaged in sexual acts.

Police arrested him on May 24 and found further images of females under the age of 14 on his phone.

Duncan and the police officer communicated over WhatsApp. Picture: File

On his laptop, officers found two pornographic videos of children over the age of 14 engaging in sexual acts.

The court heard Duncan told officers he had a “macabre fascination and morbid curiosity” with the material.

“You were fascinated by how easy it was to find such material online,” Judge Chapman said.

“You admitted to finding the material sexually gratifying.”

The court heard Duncan, who had a sexual addiction disorder, attended school until Year 11 and then found a job in sales.

He had been working full time as a logistics manager and has been married since 2005.

“You are very fortunate indeed to have her support,” Judge Chapman said.

The court heard between 1997 and 2015, Duncan had an addiction to sex workers and incurred a debt of around $35,000 before having a nervous breakdown in 2015.

Judge Chapman said he turned to the internet for “sexual arousal and excitement” and the “excitement factor” gave him an adrenaline high.

Duncan sent 11 lewd pictures and video to an undercover cop pretending to be a 37-year-old woman. Picture: File

“(Medical advice revealed) you rapidly became desensitised to normal sexual erotica,” she said, seeking material which was “riskier and potentially illegal”.

“You found child exploitation material aroused you because it was illegal and wrong.”

She said Duncan was addicted to the thrill of his conversations even though he suspected the person he was talking to was an undercover cop.

“You said it became an exciting game,” she said.

“What was an exhilarating game for you, was no game for those kids.

“The description of what you were sending to an undercover police officer is in itself abhorrent.”

However, since then Duncan admitted feelings of shame, guilt and remorse.

“You are committed to seeking forgiveness from your wife, your family, your God and yourself,” she said.

“You say that your wife has been a pillar of support and has demonstrated amazing strength and resilience through this ordeal that you have inflicted upon her.”

The court heard Duncan’s wife thought he was a “good person” and she had faith he was genuinely sincere in his remorse and the matter had made their marriage “stronger” and brought them closer together.

“She refers to your strong faith in the Catholic Church and states that together you will find a way to come through this,” she said.

He was jailed for 12 months with a non-parole period of three months.