Yarrabah man Jonathan Stafford, 22, sentenced for possession of child exploitation material
A 22-year-old Yarrabah man has avoided jail time after he was caught in possession of more than 300 videos of child exploitation material including the rape of children as young as two years old.
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A 22-year-old Yarrabah man has avoided jail despite being caught with hundreds of videos of child-exploitation material including footage involving children as young as two.
Jonathan Strafford pleaded guilty in Cairns District Court to one charge of possessing child exploitation material after police discovered 377 videos and 60 images on his mobile phone in May last year.
Crown prosecutor Kurt Macdonald told the court Strafford’s “despicable” offending was uncovered by Task Force Argos, the Queensland Police Service branch that investigates online child exploitation.
“Once police attended his house they seized his phone and the defendant provided the PIN number,” Mr Macdonald said.
The material was classified in the worst category according to the Interpol baseline.
“Concerningly, those images display a wide variety of children ranging in age from two to 15 years old, and depicted the rape of both male and female children,” Mr Macdonald said.
The prosecutor noted file names included “PMOM, which effectively stands for Paedophile mom” and challenged a psychologist’s assessment that Strafford posed only a low to moderate risk of reoffending.
“[The report writer] rather boldly opines that it was a matter of time before he began accessing child exploitation material as he became desensitised to regular pornography and intrigued by taboo pornography,” Mr Macdonald said.
“And still says he is a low to moderate risk of reoffending.”
Defence counsel Kelly Goodwin argued for probation, citing Strafford’s youth, early plea and lack of criminal history.
“He suffers from anxiety and depression and reports he suffers from PTSD after a car accident,” Mr Goodwin said, adding that his client “recognised what he was doing was wrong”.
“Mr Stafford stated to the report writer that viewing CEM had not led him to view children as sex objects.
“He denied perving at children and said he had no interest or sexual attraction in children.”
Judge Ken Barlow KC directly addressed Strafford, emphasising the real harm behind the material.
“Those children had no choice about being enrolled in sexual activities and having themselves recorded or photographed,” he said.
“They will have been exploited, perhaps by relatives or others, or even kidnapped to be used for sexual purposes. Watching that kind of material encourages that sort of activity against children.”
In a pointed question to the defendant, Justice Barlow asked: “Can you imagine how much you would have been hurt had you been raped over and over again as a young boy?”
Despite the gravity of the offence, Justice Barlow accepted defence submissions and sentenced Strafford to two years’ probation, noting psychiatric assistance could reduce risk to the community.
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Originally published as Yarrabah man Jonathan Stafford, 22, sentenced for possession of child exploitation material
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