Paul Richard Burger, 67, pleads guilty to aggravated possession of child exploitation material

A prolific author has escaped jail for possessing child exploitation material after a court accepted the sick files he downloaded were ‘research’ for a novel he was penning.

A software developer and aspiring author has avoided jail for possessing child exploitation material — claiming the sick files he downloaded were research for a novel he was penning.

Paul Richard Burger, 67, in the Adelaide District Court pleaded guilty to aggravated possession of child exploitation material.

The court heard police received information in November 2020 that an IP address in Burger’s name was being used for peer-to-peer network sharing.

Police searched Burger’s Brooklyn Park home on November 12, 2020, seizing a number of electronic devices including hard drives, mobile phones, desktop computers and a laptop computer.

A total of 131 child exploitation material videos and images were discovered as a result of the search.

Judge Joana Fuller said Burger claimed the sick files downloaded were ‘research’ for a novel he had been developing for a number of years featuring a main character that suffered from “paedophilic tendencies”.

“In 2014, some years before you downloaded the child exploitation material, the subject of the charge, you developed the plot for a novel,” Judge Fuller said.

“The main character was Timothy Surle, a lawyer based in Adelaide who possibly suffered from a paedophilic disorder and a narcissistic personality disorder.”

The court heard Burger had developed the Timothy Surle character to be the ringleader of a “paedophile ring”.

“Tim may suffer from paedophilic disorder. People with this disorder experience recurrent intense sexual fantasies, urges or behaviours involving sexual activity with a prepubescent child or children, generally age 13 years or younger,” an excerpt from the novel read.

“The fantasies, sexual urges or behaviours cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupation or other important areas of functioning.”

Paul Richard Burger said he downloaded the material for ‘research’ purposes. Picture: iStock

Judge Fuller said Burger was a novelist with a PhD in creative writing and had developed the script for the novel six years earlier than when he downloaded the child exploitation material.

She rejected the suggestion from the prosecution “that (Burger) had a sexual interest in child exploitation material prior to formulating the main character of the novel”.

“I will sentence you on the basis that you were researching paedophilia for the purposes of writing a novel, and in particular for the purposes of developing the main character of that novel,” Judge Fuller said.

“I am prepared to sentence you on the basis that the genesis or motivation for your offending was your decision to view and download child exploitation material for the purposes of research for your novel and to develop the main character, Tim Surle, in a way that an actor might immerse him or herself in a role.”

The court heard Burger had worked in the software development industry for about 20 years and had authored “many novels and creative works”.

Judge Fuller sentenced Burger to one year, seven months and 15 days in jail, with a non-parole period of 12 months.

The court heard Burger had “good prospects for rehabilitation”, with Judge Fuller ordering his sentence to be served in home detention.