Salisbury North father Alexander Macrae, 39, to be sentenced for single counts of child abuse material

A factory worker swapping vile images of children for months can be sentenced for just two days of his offending because of a legal quirk, a court heard.

A pedophile factory worker will be sentenced for just two days of disseminating vile images to other adults, even though a judge says he was clearly doing it for months.

On Monday, Iain Alexander Macrae, 39, appeared in the District Court via video link before Judge Jane Schammer.

During sentencing submissions, Judge Schammer raised questions about the charges for which Macrae is being sentenced.

“I’m just a little bit confused, about why, I mean there’s clearly evidence of this prior communication,” Judge Schammer said.

District Court Judge Jane Schammer said she was “confused” by the way the charges against Macrae had been laid. Picture: Greg Higgs

“Why does it not form part of the charged conduct?”

Prosecution told the court the missing charges relating to the conduct was due to the time of Macrae’s guilty pleas – as the Director of Public Prosecutions was unable to assess the file in time.

“If the Director had received the file to make a charge determination prior to pleas being entered, it would have been particularised and it would be in that larger number of counts, reflecting on the information, charging it all,” prosecutors said.

“Unfortunately, Your Honour, Mr Macrae pleaded to the information as it was laid by police, as in between days, and therefore that’s restricted the Director’s ability to relay additional charges essentially particularising the same conduct for which he has already pleaded guilty to.”

The court heard Macrae could be sentenced only for conversations with the “children” on May 14 and 28, 2024, despite evidence showing communications had occurred for more than three months.

Macrae, a father of four, has pleaded guilty to two counts of communicating to make a child amenable to sexual activity and one count each of possessing and disseminating child exploitation material.

The Salisbury North factory worker was arrested by the state’s elite anti-child exploitation task force JACET – the Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team.

Macrae was arrested on May 29, 2024 after police obtained a warrant following the covert operation conducted on an instant messaging platform.

Prosecutors also told the court Macrae had been communicating with three adults, who he was receiving child exploitation material from, and sending it to – involving children as young as four.

The court heard during those conversations, he “actively contemplated” contact offending in the context of his sexual attraction to children.

Prosecutors said non-exploitative images of children known to Mr Macrae were sent to other users for their “sexual gratification” as well.

Counsel for Macrae said he was “very embarrassed” and “very remorseful” prior to his arrest.

The court heard while in prison, he was participating in educational and skill-building programs.

Judge Schammer adjourned the matter to hand down sentence in April.