Timothy Harkness to be sentenced for possessing child exploitation material after surviving an attempted murder in 2012

A man who survived being tied up and having his throat slashed by a “sexually confused” friend turned to internet for comfort, before finding child abuse material.

A man who survived attempted murder at the hands of a friend said he is remorseful for being caught with child exploitation material.

Timothy John Harkness, 44, will be sentenced next month for turning to the dark side of the internet after the significant trauma in his life.

The Adelaide District Court on Friday heard that Harkness’ devices were searched in September, 2018 on the belief that Harkness was spreading child exploitation material online.

“SAPOL approached the defendant back in 2018 as they had contact from AFP triggered by that Tumblr account,” a prosecutor told the court.

The court heard the child exploitation images found were in category one, two and three, with the majority in category one.

Category one on the Oliver scale – which forms the basis on which child exploitation images and videos are graded – is where there is no sexual activity.

Harkness, of Clarence Park, had previously pleaded guilty to possessing child exploitation material.

Timothy Harkness will be sentenced next month in the Adelaide District Court. Photo: File

Shane Spence, for Harkness, told the court Harkness was still traumatised after a former friend attempted to murder him in March 2012.

Joshua Michael Tilmouth had spent weeks planning the bizarre attack, in which he bought a knife before arranging a rendezvous with Harkness.

Tilmouth then handcuffed and tied up Harkness, before using the knife to slice at his neck.

Tilmouth was jailed for 10 years, with a seven-year non parole period.

“His world fell apart because of the offence committed against him but also because he was outed as a result of being the victim,” Ms Spence said.

“There were all sorts of mud thrown against Mr Harkness … it was a friend who committed this crime against him and there’s no explanation as to why.”

Supreme Court judge Michael David told the court during Tilmouth’s sentencing that the only plausible explanation was that Tilmouth was “young and confused about your sexuality, which built up a well of resentment against the victim”.

The court heard Harkness became a hermit after the offending and turned to the internet to fulfil his emotional needs.

“He realises that the activities he conducted were dangerous … basically he has learnt his lesson,” Ms Spence said.

“You may think you’re getting adult pornography but you may end up with child pornography.”

The court heard Harkness has some sexual interest in children but has no interest in acting on it.

The prosecutor said it was understandable Harkness had become fixated with the internet after the trauma he went through.

“However, there is still no clear explanation of that transition over to illegal pornography,” the prosecutor said.

“This is not a victimless crime.”

The court heard Harkness, who is remorseful for his actions, suffers from multiple mental health issues, including PTSD and agoraphobia.

The prosecutor said they would not oppose a jail term being suspended.

Judge Ian Press will sentence Harkness next month.