NAMED: Burnett sex offender in court for having weapon

A SOUTH Burnett criminal who was caught with thousands of disgusting child porn images has fronted Murgon court for failing to notify police of being near children and having a weapon. DETAILS:

A SOUTH Burnett criminal who is already on parole for previous offences including possessing child exploitation material, faced Murgon Magistrates Court with five recent charges. Photo: File

A SOUTH Burnett sex offender was brought before the courts again for breaching his bail with a weapons charge and failure to notify police he was living with two boys.

On Tuesday, November 24 the Murgon Magistrates Court heard Steven Graham Wigg was charged with four counts of failure to comply with reporting and one count of possessing a weapon.

It‘s the second time in three months Wigg has fronted court, on August 19 he faced Kingaroy District Court for his second charge of possessing child exploitation material.

The first was on April 24, 2019 where he was convicted and given a 12 month suspended sentence.

The court heard Wigg failed to report contact with two children who were staying in his house and failed to notify police of a phone number he had access to.

Solicitor Ryan said Wigg has been estranged from his wife and children and is living with a new partner.

“Part of the offending that comes before you today was largely to do with the fact that they had decided to get a new place together,” Mr Ryan said.

“He was in the process of moving between his old residence and his new residence and at the time there was a burglary or break in and he used his partner‘s phone to call police to report that burglary.”

The phone call activated a flag within the police system and they notified his reporting officer who noted he had used a number that was not listed as a known number.

Mr Ryan said Wigg also failed to notify the officer of his change of address.

“He did later notify the reporting authority of that new address and he advised that the number was his partner‘s number and he didn’t believe that he needed to report that number even though he’s used it to make a call,” he said.

More seriously, Wigg didn’t tell police he had two teenage boys staying at his new residence.

“He accepts that he had an obligation to contact the police and notify them in relation to those two boys,” Mr Ryan said.

“In respect of the nunchucks, it was a homemade device, he can't really give any information on it, it was something that he had lying around the house for a number of years.”

Magistrate Andrew Sinclair said in relation to the weapon offence, the nunchucks would be forfeited and Wigg would be convicted but not punished.

Mr Sinclair said the two breaches of failing to report his partner‘s number and his new address would be convicted but not punished.

“There’s no attempt to hide anything from the authorities,” Mr Sinclair said.

“The offences of the 13th and 14th of January are concerning because as a recorded offender you had two young men living in your house and failed to notify the authorities.”

Mr Sinclair sentenced one month of imprisonment for each of the breaches involving the teenagers.

“They’re concurrent with one another and your existing sentence and your parole eligibility date remains at the 12th of January 2021, convictions are recorded,” he said.

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