Web of depravity: How a South Australian pedophile ring was busted

It began with a barista, a logistics manager and a perverse conversation – and turned into a fast-spreading child abuse probe that toppled a political spin doctor.

A disturbing online conversation between a barista and a logistics manager sparked a child-abuse investigation that has taken down a senior South Australian political adviser.

For the first time, the Sunday Mail can reveal the domino effect that led police from Michael Drennan to Jadd William Brooker, and then to former ALP staffer Benjamin John Waters.

An investigation by SA’s Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team, which is still ongoing, has resulted in at least 10 arrests and almost 50 confessions so far.

And it all began with Drennan – who now claims to be “ashamed and embarrassed” by his crimes – having a truly chilling conversation with Brooker over an encrypted app.

Barista Michael Drennan was the first arrest in the chain. Picture: Facebook.

THE FIRST DOMINO

In August 2020, Drennan lived in Ethleton, was working as a barista and making plans to marry his longtime boyfriend.

Away from work, however, the now 34-year-old was using WhatsApp to chat with men involved in the creation, downloading and transmitting of child-abuse material.

Soon he, too, was collating perverse images and videos to swap with like-minded deviants.

The most pivotal of Drennan’s many online conversations was with Brooker – at the time the project manager for a global logistics and transport company.

Drennan asked Brooker, who was based in Glenelg East, if he had “any boy pictures I can see”, saying “I hope I find my boy soon”.

As their disgusting exchange continued, Brooker – who is HIV-positive – told Drennan that he wanted to infect children and adults with the potentially lethal virus.

Days later, when JACET detectives were alerted to Drennan’s online activities and raided his home, they found that conversation still stored in the app.

They very quickly realised Drennan was but the first domino in a much larger scene.

Jadd William Brooker told Drennan of his desire to infect adults and children with HIV. Picture: Facebook.

WORST OF THE WORST

JACET detectives moved against Brooker almost immediately and, on his devices and in his virtual storage cloud, found more than 4.5 million images, videos and files.

Among the first 350,000 pieces of data to be analysed were 10,000 examples of child-abuse material, including instances of sadism, coerced bondage and torture.

In excess of 7000 images did not exist anywhere else on the internet – meaning Brooker had abused children in person, filmed his crimes and distributed them.

One veteran detective dubbed it “the worst and most degrading set” of offending he had seen “in 14 years of investigations”.

The “homemade” material depicted Brooker acting upon his sick desire by abusing two teenage males, and so detectives moved to find the young men.

One, they learnt, had already died by suicide as a result of the trauma he had sustained – the other was rushed to have testing for HIV.

But Brooker’s criminality was not limited to his own offending.

In addition to the images, detectives found 50,000 communications between Brooker and other pedophiles, giving them a trail to follow.

As Brooker moved through the court process – and was caught asking his mother to delete his accounts – JACET continued its investigation.

The messages led them not only to their next three targets, but into the halls of Parliament House.

Benjamin John Waters pleaded guilty to child abuse crimes soon after his arrest. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

THE ADVISER

In March, JACET stunned the state with two high-profile arrests.

One was a well-known name among SA’s political players – internationally experienced political adviser Benjamin John Waters.

A veteran SA Labor operator for a decade, Waters, 38, had been working for opposition human services spokeswoman Nat Cook following stints with the UK Labour Party.

The other was Stewart Iain Berry, a senior officer and acting manager for the Department for Correctional Services.

Berry, 37, of Port Lincoln, had allegedly used covert video cameras to film adults, children and babies, then shared that material online. He is charged with producing, possessing and transmitting child abuse material and indecent filming.

JACET alleged Waters and Berry could be linked to one another through their unlawful online conversations about children, particularly young males.

They further alleged the men had communicated with a 27-year-old Victorian man who had, in turn, been chatting online with Brooker about sexually abusing children.

Soon after the duo’s arrests, Berry’s counsel informed the court her client was “co-operating fully” with SA Police.

JACET subsequently arrested another SA man allegedly linked to the group.

Detectives also continued work on at least six other prosecutions, all arising from the initial arrest of Drennan.

Those matters are ongoing. Berry and the other SA man have yet to enter pleas.

Drennan pleaded guilty to multiple counts of possessing and disseminating child exploitation material and and was sentenced to two years’ jail, with a 13-month non-parole period.

Brooker confessed to his 38 crimes in three separate chunks, earning himself multiple sentencing discounts along the way. His offences included maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child and possessing and transmitting child abuse material.

Waters, conversely, wasted no time pleading guilty to the charges against him of accessing, possessing and transmitting child abuse material – securing up to 25 per cent off his eventual penalty.

In a stroke of karma, Waters and Brooker will both face the District Court on the same day in September.