Oakden whistleblower Stewart Johnston and son in court charged with possessing child abuse material

One of the men who blew the whistle about an abuse scandal at the Oakden aged care facility has appeared in court alongside his son.

Former Oakden whistleblower Stewart Johnston has appeared in court alongside his son charged with knowingly possessing child exploitation material.

Mr Johnston, 50, of Angaston, and his son Corey Johnston, 25, of Mannum, each appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Rich Stanley, for Stewart, told the court the charge against his client was not admitted, but a formal plea is yet to be entered.

Michael Woods, for Corey, told the court there was “confusion about what items and what computers and phones belonged to each” of the accused and asked the court for more time to consider the evidence. provided.

He said he did not have any specific information about what had been taken from his client’s phone.

Mr Woods said the only evidence he had so far were police interviews with each of the accused.

He said police had “reasonable cause” to search Stewart’s property but not Corey’s which he said was “obviously an issue I want to look at”.

Stewart Johnston, left, and his son Corey Johnston leave the Adelaide Magistrates Court after they each appeared on a charge of knowingly be in possession of child exploitation material. Picture: Supplied

“There is no indication about how many images are on the phone material,” he said.

He said the father and son had “two identical Motorola” phones and it was unclear what had been found on each.

A prosecutor said “all of that analysis had been done” but the information may not have yet ben provided to Mr Woods. She said the two cases were currently 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 alleged she had been repeatedly abused by staff.

The nursing home was closed in 2017 and prompted inquiries, including an ICAC probe. It also led to government compensation payouts for the families of victims.

In 2021, Stewart announced he was launching the Care Watch Australia Party ahead of the 2022 Federal election. Prior to that, he appeared in a State Liberal Party election campaign ad.

He was also on a committee tasked with establishing camera trials to protect patients but quit the role in 2019, claiming it had “achieved nothing”.

The father and son are each separately charged with an offence of knowingly be in possession of child exploitation material, which allegedly occurred in May this year at Mannum.

Outside court, Stewart Johnston said he was unable to comment about the allegations against him – including how many images were alleged to have been found on his phone – but said “there was a lot more to the story”.

He said his “mental health is terrible” and that the six months since his arrest had been “very, very hard” and had a “huge impact on us both”.

“I honestly can’t go any further than what I’ve said, I probably have said a bit too much … but I want to be honest … the worst thing to do is to run away from you.,” he said.

“I’m letting you know what I can let you know.”

Stewart said he was “trying to maintain a level of hope” justice would prevail.

He said the charge he was facing was “very serious” and had “enabled” people to “shut us out”.

Stewart said he had “come up against a lot” since his involvement with exposing abuse at the Oakden facility and it had been a tough five years.

“We’ve fought against a lot and we’d like to continue to do so.”

Both men return to court in January, when Stewart is expected to enter a plea.