Cameron Henley-Fridmanis receives suspended jail term for possessing child exploitation material
A young, porn-addicted woodworker has avoided jail for possessing child exploitation material with a judge warning him to “stay off the internet”.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A porn-addicted woodworker who had hundreds of images and videos involving children under the age of 14 on his phone has received a suspended prison term.
Cameron Henley-Fridmanis, 21, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two counts possessing child exploitation material.
The District Court of South Australia heard the Paradise man was in possession of approximately 317 images and videos when arrested by police last May.
Late last month, Judge Liesel Chapman said the accused told police the material, which was accessed on his mobile phone, involved children as young as 12.
“You said that you had been engaging in that activity for a couple of years and you found it sexually gratifying,” Judge Chapman said.
“The pictures and videos that you downloaded are real children being sexually abused.
“People who download this material fuel the market for that sexual abuse of children worldwide.”
However, she handed Henley-Fridmanis a three-year good behaviour bond, saying it was “important to give you another chance today”.
“You are not going to jail today,” she said.
“Do yourself a favour and focus on that woodwork and stay off the internet, okay.
“This is your first offence and in my view the emphasis at this stage needs to be on helping you, not locking you up.”
She said the accused had an “incredibly difficult upbringing” with a childhood “marked by neglect, abuse, trauma, isolation, bullying and a failure to diagnose your dyslexia and your autism spectrum disorder”.
The court heard his parents split when he was very young and he suffered bullying during his school years which led to self-harm and at last one suicide attempt.
“Your psychologist describes it as a substantial history of complex trauma,” she said.
“In my view, I should give you a chance to rehabilitate yourself in the community.
“Putting you in jail now would undo all of the good work that you have already done.”
His lawyer Kathryn Waite had argued his obsession with pornography, which became a daily habit, had been born out of rejection, disappointment and during his “lowest ebb”.
Henley-Fridmanis’ psychologist submitted that he had been diagnosed with pornography addiction.
“He says you understand the ramifications of what you did and have made significant improvement in your ability to distinguish between right and wrong,” she said.
“In his opinion with ongoing therapeutic work in social anxiety, self-esteem and the pornography addiction you should be able to further minimise the risk of reoffending.”
She disagreed with a Director of Public Prosecutions submission that he should be imprisoned.
“You are a young man, only 21. You have no prior convictions. You have already made positive efforts towards your rehabilitation,” she said.
“The best news is that you have finally got a job (in woodwork) which you really enjoy.
“That has become your new focus and it sounds like a positive obsession.”
He received a suspended one year and one month prison term.
Woman refused bail after stabbing bus driver in North Adelaide
A 23-year-old woman has been refused bail after allegedly throwing a drink and stabbing a bus driver with scissors.
Named: Man in court over mystery death of woman
A man to be charged with the murder of a Mount Gambier woman has appeared in court, as her friends say a special “code word” for trouble was never used.