David Andrew Marshall, 30, spared jail after cops busted him with ‘depraved’ child exploitation material

A 30-year-old man caught by cops with ‘depraved’ child exploitation material has learned his fate in court.

A “depraved” man who lived in a caravan when he downloaded child abuse material has contributed to a “serious social evil” that destroys the lives of children, but won’t be jailed for his crimes, a court has heard.

David Andrew Marshall stood silently in the dock of the South Australian District Court on Tuesday morning as Judge Ian Press spared him further jail time.

Marshall, 30, pleaded guilty to possessing child exploitation material, but his lawyer had previously told the court his client had only downloaded the material after searching for legal pornography.

After a search of his caravan home in November 2022, SA Police found 71 video files and six image files on a hard drive.

According to court documents released to The Advertiser by the District Court, Marshall was in possession of 61 videos depicting a “real child perceived to be under 13 years of age,” six images of children under 18 and 10 videos of children under 18 when he was arrested.

“You admitted to police that there may be incriminating material on your hard drive,” Judge Press said in sentencing.

“Some of the material was of a particularly depraved nature. The material was downloaded on your hard drive on 11 occasions. The earliest download date was December 2019, and the last access was July 2022.

David Andrew Marshall has pleaded guilty to possessing child exploitation material.

The 30-year-old was living in a caravan when cops raided it and found the material. Picture Dean Martin

“You told police that you did a mass download of adult pornography and there may be some incriminating things within that download. You said you had a quick look through and saw some questionable things. You said you were going to deal with it the next day but never did.”

Judge Press said Marshall had denied obtaining the files for any sexual gratification, but did not accept that he had no interest in the material.

“I also consider another comment you made to police, which was to the effect that you’d seen the material on your phone and then cleared all the data from it so you ‘would not be tempted to go there again’. I can see your comment about not being tempted is the closest you have come to actually acknowledging you do have an interest in the material,” he said.

“Child exploitation material is a serious social evil. You have contributed to the sexual exploitation of these children. Those who are part of the market for this material share the responsibility for what is done to the children.”

The maximum penalty for possessing child exploitation material is 12 years imprisonment, but Judge Press said Marshall’s offending wasn’t the most serious end of offending.

Taking into account a 15 per cent discount for Marshall’s early guilty plea, Judge Press sentenced him to one year, five months and 27 days in prison, but suspended the sentence upon his agreement to enter a $100 good behaviour bond.

“Suspension will provide an ongoing incentive for you to change your behaviours and address your issues,” Judge Press said.

He ordered Marshall further complete 100 hours of community service, and attend counselling.