Victims of HIV+ pedophile and abuse syndicate leader Jadd William Brooker tell SA court he is an evil, parasitic monster

The people forced to endure Jadd Brooker’s crimes did not hold back when they finally got their chance to speak. Read their words.

HIV positive child sex offender and child exploitation syndicate leader Jadd William Brooker.

An HIV-positive pedophile and child abuse syndicate leader is “an evil parasite” who “left a piece of himself” in every child whose innocence he destroyed, a court has heard.

On Wednesday, and after more than three years of court hearings, the victims of Jadd William Brooker finally had their opportunity to denounce their abuser in the Supreme Court.

The victims, all aged between 13 and 16, told Brooker he was “evil, dirty and old”, and that his hundreds of crimes were “revolting and deplorable”.

They said he took advantage of their naivety and “first steps” as gay men to twist them into both “playthings” for his perverse desires and content for his online syndicate.

“Why am I left wondering if I have a disease that you wanted to keep secret? It’s as if you have left a piece of yourself in me,” one of the victims said.

“You are a parasite, preying on the vulnerable … you are a predator who tried to act as a saviour … you ruined childhoods, you ruined teenage years.

“You are evil.”

Brooker, left, abused children in South Australia, across the country and overseas.

Brooker, 41, pleaded guilty to having committed 182 sexual abuse and exploitation offences against children and teenagers in Australia and around the world.

The elite Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team arrested him in September 2020, telling a court his crimes were “the worst and most degrading” they had investigated to that point.

Brooker not only vowed to “infect children and adults” with HIV, but also acted on that perverse desire – and filmed himself doing so.

He pursued more than 20 children, aged between 13 and 19, for sex over apps such as Skype and Telegram.

One of his victims took his own life, while another had to undergo medical testing following Brooker’s arrest.

While in custody, Brooker asked his mother to delete his online accounts – JACET subsequently found 4.5 million images and 50,000 messages of child exploitation into evidence.

Brooker was arrested by the Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team, a unit comprised of AFP and SA Police detectives. Picture: Matt Loxton

Additionally, Brooker was the centre of an SA-based online child exploitation syndicate that also included:

BLACKMAILER AND STANDOVER MAN Leon Ronald Scarffe, who is yet to be sentenced for three counts of maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child, four counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, three counts of communicating with a child for a prurient purpose, and disseminating and possessing child exploitation material.

POLITICAL ADVISER Benjamin John Waters, who received a suspended sentence for accessing, possessing and transmitting child abuse material.

CORRECTIONAL SERVICES MANAGER and top public servant Stewart Iain Berry, who is yet to be sentenced for maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child, inciting a child to commit an indecent act, and producing and possessing child exploitation material.

BARISTA Michael Drennan, who was jailed for possessing and disseminating child exploitation material.

Following his arrest, a court heard, Brooker asked his mother to delete his online accounts.

One victim said the lengthy prosecution had taken a further toll on his mental health and his life “would have been easier” had Brooker “just died”.

“I just want to tell you that you are a worthless, evil monster who deserves nothing for the future because you took mine and those of many others … I hope you rot in jail,” he said.

The mother of one victim told Brooker he was “not worth an ounce of my energy or time”, but speaking up for her son was.

“This pedophile is the worst kind of being – a waste of space and energy,” she said.

“The world would have been a richer place had he not been born.”

In a community impact statement, Commissioner for Victims Rights Sarah Quick said Brooker’s crimes had “insidious ripples” throughout families.

Those ripples, she said, included Brooker’s former partner who has never been accused of nor charged with a crime, and yet had been “wrongly vilified” by some members of the public.

Justice Adam Kimber remanded Brooker in custody for further sentencing submissions on Thursday.

What Jadd William Brooker’s victims said

Victim 1: Why do I feel dirty for the way you touched me? Why do I feel at fault when I can’t be held accountable for your actions? Why am I left to apologise for you preying upon me? Why am I left wondering if I have a disease that you wanted to keep secret? It’s as if you left a piece of yourself in me.

You are a parasite, preying on the vulnerable. You are a predator who tried to act as a saviour. You ruined childhoods, you ruined teenage years. You are evil.

Victim 2: Your crimes started when I was only 13. I was very naive, I didn’t understand I was being groomed and taken advantage of. I was looking for understanding, for friendship, not what happened to me over the years that followed. I’ve lived with regret, shame and silence for many years since.

Friends and family didn’t understand me, and they put me in the “too hard” basket. It was easier to just be “a weirdo”. Because I didn’t talk about what happened, there was no help. It just became a black hole I couldn’t get out of, affecting me every day and night.

It was like having a really bad secret that you can’t tell anyone, and it eats you up from the inside. Sexual abuse of children alienates the victim. How can you possibly talk about it when there’s so much stigma upon it? I just want those victims who don’t have a voice to be heard.

Victim 3: I had not come out (as gay) yet. When I was that age, when the offending happened, I felt I didn’t have anyone to talk to. I was just trying to find people to talk to – instead, I found him (Brooker).

I have to take medication to sleep, I suffer from anxiety and depression, I see a psychologist and a psychiatrist. I feel hurt, I have lost trust in people. I used to be extroverted but my personality has changed.

It would have been easier if this never happened or he (Brooker) died to I didn’t have to go through this process. You have hurt me, I just want to tell you that you are a worthless, evil monster who deserves nothing for the future because you have taken mine and so many others’. I hope you rot in jail.

Mother of a fourth victim: Initially, I did not want to allocate a moment of my life or breath to this monster – he’s not worth an ounce of my energy or time. But my son is. I need to speak for my son and all who love him. Our whole world was damaged by this monster – this excuse of a human, this evil, dirty, old, HIV-positive pedophile.

The abuse my son suffered at the hands of this man is now forever his introduction to his sexual identity. He was preyed upon, manipulated, damaged, hurt, in pain and violated in the most deplorable of ways. Images of the evil, revolting, deplorable things done to him give me nightmares while I sleep.

This excuse for a human being viewed my son as a plaything and knowingly exposed my child to HIV. Words fail me … when (JACET) told us “the accused is HIV-positive” the bottom fell out of my world.

This pedophile is the worst kind of being – a waste of space and energy. The world would have been richer had he not been born.