NAMED: Toowoomba dad with ‘highly depraved’ CEM child porn released after one year
A Toowoomba man arrested after shooting a car with a shotgun was found with a sickening cache of child exploitation material.
After serving more than a year in custody, a Toowoomba man found with a sickening trove of the worst child exploitation material has been released from custody.
The Toowoomba District Court heard Courtney James Hepworth came to the attention of police after going to a Stenner St home armed with a shotgun and banging on the front door before firing a shot into the occupants’ Toyota HiLux.
Soon after, when police arrested the now 47-year-old at The Tatts Hotel, the court heard he had a number of tabs open in his phone’s internet browser.
“Pre-teen hard core,” read one of Hepworth’s searches.
Further investigation of his devices uncovered that he used encrypted applications to download 877 photos and 63 videos of child exploitation material.
The court heard the abhorrent abuse, some of which were duplicates, was “highly depraved” as it depicted children from the age of two being abused or raped.
Barrister Jessica Goldie, instructed by McConnell & Saldumbide Criminal Lawyers, said the large gap in Hepworth’s criminal history came to an end after his marriage broke breakdown, and at the time of the offending, he had a drug and alcohol problem and no stable accommodation.
Mrs Goldie said it was the first time the father had spent time in custody, and upon his release, he was keen to stay clean and get back to working as a truck driver.
She said Hepworth had a prejudicial upbringing, which led to him using drugs as a teen.
In late November 2025, Hepworth pleaded guilty to a number of indictments, the first of which were his commonwealth charges – possessing child exploitation material (CEM) and using a service to access CEM.
On the state indictments, he pleaded guilty to possessing CEM, using an online service to access CEM, dangerous conduct with a firearm, wilful damage of a car, unlawful possession of a shotgun, and possessing two knives in public at a Toowoomba pub.
Hepworth was sentenced to a three-year jail term to be released after serving 369 days on remand since his arrest in November 2024.
He was released on a two-year probation order to ensure he was supervised within the community, as well as a $1000 bond to be of good behaviour for three years.
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Originally published as NAMED: Toowoomba dad with ‘highly depraved’ CEM child porn released after one year
