Adelaide court jails Christopher Scott Baulderstone, 50, for ‘heinous, depraved’ addiction to child abuse material

The ‘heinous’ behaviour came to light after police seized his electronic devices.

A father whose addiction to pornography grew to involve child abuse material spent ten years viewing “depraved” acts before cops sprung him with over 5000 files across various devices.

In the South Australian District Court on Thursday, Christopher Scott Baulderstone, 50, was jailed for his “heinous” addiction to child exploitation material, which the court heard spanned over a decade.

Baulderstone pleaded guilty to possessing child exploitation material after police attended his home in June 2023, seizing multiple electronic devices.

In sentencing, Judge Paul Muscat said Baulderstone had also admitted to swapping the child abuse material with another person online.

“You said that you obtained most of the child exploitation material using search engines and a particular website,” Judge Muscat said.

“In total, police discovered 5,252 images and videos across your various devices.

“There were 1,304 images and 399 videos depicting children under the age of 13 years, and 3,374 images and 175 videos of children over the age of 13 years.”

Judge Muscat said he would not repeat the descriptions of the videos and images, but said that he considered it “some of the more depraved and heinous images of their kind perpetrated upon some very young children, some of whom were only toddlers.”

Baulderstone was jailed after police found child exploitation material on multiple electronic devices. Picture: File

Judge Muscat said that Baulderstone’s ex-wife, and mother of his child, had supplied the court with a character reference and was supportive of him.

He said Baulderstone had told a therapist that he had “always viewed” pornography, but the material he accessed became more “deviant” as he “chased the next high”.

Part of a psychological report, prepared by the same therapist, said that while Baulderstone “likely was and continues to be addicted to pornography, he may also have a sexual attraction to children”.“What you were viewing was the sexual abuse or exploitation of children,” Judge Muscat said.

“Each of those children has been harmed. Each one of them is a real victim of your crime. You have indirectly contributed to the harm they suffered.

“Although you were not charged with any offence other than being in possession of the material, it is, nevertheless, concerning that you have admitted to communicating with other persons, who are similarly interested in this material, in order to swap the material in your possession.

“It is also of equal concern that you have had this sexual interest in children and have been downloading this material over a 10 year period.”

He jailed Baulderstone for three years – having taken into account a sentencing discount for his early guilty plea – with a non-parole period of one year and six months.