Reece George indecently filmed young children in Port Lincoln community

A creep twice given bail for having vile child abuse material was later caught red-handed indecently filming young children in a popular Port Lincoln store.

A country pedophile who indecently filmed young children at Kmart didn’t stop his vile conduct even after two chances on bail.

Reece George, 39, was “persistent” in satisfying his twisted desires, which he said was a form of escapism.

During sentencing submissions on Thursday, a prosecutor said George acted upon his sexual urges by possessing child exploitation material and regularly indecently filming young children in the Port Lincoln community.

The District Court heard George was caught with child exploitation material in April 2019 and January 2021.

The offending was aggravated as George possessed the material knowing the victims were under the age of 14.

Reece George pleaded guilty to multiple counts of indecent filming. Picture: Facebook

“And then in January 2022 he was actually caught in the act of indecent filming in a Kmart store in Port Lincoln,” the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor said it was evident George met the criteria for a pedophilic disorder.

“He has in the (psychological) report described experiencing sexual arousal towards pre-pubescent females,” she said.

The prosecutor said it appeared George didn’t fully understand the consequences of his actions and was at risk of reoffending due to his “persistent nature”.

George, of Port Lincoln, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of possessing child exploitation material and indecent filming.

Sally Burgess, for George, said they acknowledged it was very serious offending and involved real victims.

Ms Burgess said George was in a relationship with a woman who cheated on him and was left negatively affected by it.

“Whilst on one hand he wanted to engage in a ‘normal’ relationship, (he) also found himself attracted to young children,” she said.

“He describes in his words his offending as a form of escapism – escaping his past, escaping his problems, escaping his thought processes of these thoughts towards children.”

The court heard George’s traumatic childhood, drug use and lack of continual employment contributed to his offending.

Ms Burgess said George, who had previously worked as a panel beater and in the abalone fishing industry, wanted to return to work once released from custody.

“He is prepared to do whatever it takes to prevent this from happening again because he doesn’t want to go back to jail, he hasn’t liked it,” she said.

Judge Emily Telfer will sentence George next month.