RAAF sergeant Jacob Donald Walsh now accused of 230 child abuse charges
An SA-based RAAF airman has made grim legal history and now faces 230 child abuse charges – the most ever filed against a single person in state history.
Police & Courts
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An RAAF airman already charged with 45 offences against children now stands accused of 230 crimes based on 88,000 pages of evidence, a court has heard.
Sergeant Jacob Donald Walsh was scheduled, on Thursday, to enter pleas to 45 child abuse charges in the Adelaide Magistrates Court.
Instead, prosecutors announced a huge increase in the size of their case and filed an additional 185 charges.
In total, Sergeant Walsh now faces the most offences ever laid, in South Australia, against a single alleged child sex offender.
The previous record was held by online pedophile syndicate leader and HIV positive sex predator Jadd William Brooker, who has pleaded guilty to 182 crimes.
Bill Morris, for Sergeant Walsh, asked the court for additional time to advise his client about the allegations.
“We only received this 230-count information yesterday, so it’s inconceivable my client could even consider advice in time to enter a plea today,” he said.
“We had started work on the basis of 45 charges... all that work we’ve done has been wasted.
“We’re seeking an adjournment, which seems fair and reasonable given the prosecution have taken a year to get to this point.”
Sergeant Walsh, 35, of Blakeview, was charged with 47 child sex offences including producing exploitation material and making children amenable to sex.
Previously, prosecutors have alleged he had in excess of 25 victims around Australia and overseas, to whom he sent thousands of messages seeking illicit photographs.
On Thursday, Mr Morris said prosecutors had provided him with CDs containing 88,000 pages of evidence including online chat logs.
He said that, because the material was legally considered “sensitive”, he could “not post nor email” it to his client at Mount Gambier Prison.
“We’ll have to go to Mount Gambier and go through it with him ... we will be there for weeks,” he said.
“I might actually have to take up residence there.”
His request for a three-month adjournment, before entering pleas, was granted and Sergeant Walsh was remanded in custody until September.
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