Corey Johnston, son of Oakden whistleblower Stewart, admits charge of possessing child exploitation material
The son of a man who helped blow the whistle about abuse horrors at the Oakden aged care facility has made a shock admission in court.
Police & Courts
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The son of an Oakden whistleblower has admitted possessing child exploitation material.
Corey Johnston, 25, of Mannum appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child exploitation material, “knowing of its pornographic nature”.
The court heard the offending occurred at Mannum on May 15 last year.
At his last hearing, in November, Corey Johnston appeared in court alongside his father, Stewart Johnston, 50, of Angaston, who is yet to enter pleas to the same alleged offending.
At that hearing, Michael Woods, for Corey, said there was “confusion about what items and what computers and phones belonged to each” of the men.
The court had heard the father and son had “two identical Motorola phones” but that it was unclear, at the time, what had been found on each device.
At the time prosecutors said they had analysed the material, but had not yet provided it to Mr Woods.
At that hearing the prosecutor told the court the charges against each accused were being heard together, but should proceed separately.
Stewart Johnston was one of the people who blew the whistle on the abuse scandal at the Oakden aged mental health care service after his mother – Corey’s grandmother – alleged she had been repeatedly abused by staff.
The nursing home was closed in 2017 and prompted a number of inquiries, including an ICAC probe. Those inquiries also led to government compensation payouts for the families of victims.
Stewart Johnston was not present in court on Wednesday. He is next scheduled to appear on Thursday when he is also expected to enter a plea to the charge.
He has previously said outside court that “there was a lot more to the story” and that he was “trying to maintain a level of hope” that justice would prevail.
Corey Johnston is next due to appear in the District Court for arraignment in March.
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