34-year-old Wallaroo man jailed for five years for forcing child to pose for naked photographs

A 34-year-old grain processing worker restrained a six-year-old with tape to get naked photos of her and also showed her child abuse material, a court has heard.

A 34-year-old silo worker restrained a child with sticky tape to take naked photos of her and showed her pornography for his own devious interests.

The man, who cannot be identified to protect the identity of his victim, committed the significant breach of trust for his own sexual gratification.

The Adelaide District Court heard the man met the mother of the victim in 2017 and they were living together in a rental property.

The court heard the man’s offending was uncovered after police analysed his mobile phones and found 42 child exploitation images.

The images appeared to have been taken of the victim, who was aged between six and eight at the time of the offending, naked in the family home.

“It is clear from the content of the images that your victim was instructed to pose for the photographs,” Judge Julie McIntyre said during sentencing.

The court heard the victim told police the man would take photos of her in her bedroom and on one occasion woke her up to do so.

“She tried to get away from you by hiding under her bed, but you dragged her out to take photographs,” Judge McIntyre said.

“You took photographs of her on another occasion following restraining her by placing sticky tape around her wrists and legs.

“You also showed her photographs of other naked children on your mobile phone.”

The Wallaroo man was jailed for maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child. Photo: File

The Wallaroo father-of-three pleaded guilty to maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child.

“Your victim describes how terrifying your behaviour was for her,” Judge McIntyre said.

“Your behaviour was serious and constituted a significant breach of trust.

“The victim’s mother should have been able to trust you to behave appropriately to her young daughter.”

The court heard the man was working processing grain in the local silos before he was arrested.

Judge McIntyre sentenced him to five years and nine months jail, with a non-parole period of three years.

“Your victim should have been able to look to you for protection, instead of which you took advantage of her vulnerability and your position to exploit her for what I assume to be your own sexual gratification,” she said.

“What you did to her is likely to have traumatised her and may well affect her for the rest of her life.”

The sentence was backdated to April 29, 2021.