Delivery driver Lance Robin Berry Reed jailed for ‘disturbing’ toddler abuse material

This southern suburbs delivery driver had more than 1000 videos and pictures of child abuse – now a court’s heard he backtracked on his original excuse.

A southern suburbs pedophile who possessed more than a thousand videos and pictures of children as young as two being sexually abused initially claimed he was doing it to expose offenders.

Last week, Lance Robin Berry Reed, 47, of Huntfield Heights, faced the District Court via video link to be sentenced by Judge Joanne Tracey.

As she handed down her sentence, Her Honour said initially Reed told a psychologist he was communicating with other people interested in abusing children to “expose them”.

“You told Dr White that you attributed your involvement in the offending related to online and hunting for people who were perpetrators and who were targeting children,” Judge Tracey said.

“You told him that you wanted to expose those people …”

She said Reed had now distanced himself from that excuse and had been diagnosed with a pedophilic disorder.

“However, it does concern me as regards your level of insight into the offending and the damage viewing and disseminating such material causes,” she said.

Reed, a delivery driver, pleaded guilty to nine counts of disseminating child exploitation material, one count of possessing child exploitation material and one count of communicating to make a child amenable to sexual activity.

The court heard some of the material possessed and viewed by Reed depicted the abuse of children as young as two years old, and there were 142 images and 955 videos located across multiple devices.

Judge Tracey said reading the affidavit that contained the messages Reed sent to other people through a social media platform was “sickening reading” and revealed his “strong interest in such material”.

Reed was not charged with any offences relating to these conversations.

Her Honour said Reed’s offending was not victimless, and he had contributed to the “continued corruption and exploitation” of children required to supply the market he engaged with.

The court heard Reed’s mother had described him as a “very giving and hardworking person” in her character reference, and Reed has experienced a very traumatic upbringing.

Her Honour said Reed was to be sentenced as a “serious repeat offender”, and would be required to serve at least four-fifths of any sentence imposed as the non-parole period.

Judge Tracey sentenced Reed to a total of four years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of three years, two months and 13 days.

The sentence was backdated to start March 14, 2024.