Matthew Anthony McQuistan in court for break and enter, wilful damage

A former farm worker has been sentenced after a string of break and enters, wilful damage and an attempt to set fire to school doors. Here’s what the court heard:

Matthew Anthony McQuistan leaves Gympie District Court. January 29, 2024.

A 20-year-old man has avoided jail or becoming a registered sex offender over a summer crime spree that included a number of break and enters and damage to Gympie State High School.

Matthew Anthony McQuistan, short, with a boyish face and a small rat’s tail, pleaded guilty in Gympie District Court on Tuesday to 16 charges, including six counts of breaking entering and stealing, one count of an attempt to enter premises, two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, one count of endangering property by fire, five counts of indecent treatment of a child, and one count of possessing child exploitation material.

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McQuistan also pleaded guilty to the summary offences of obstructing police and wilful damage.

The court heard how he was involved in a number of break and enters over the summer of 2023, including stealing $250 from a cash register at a Gympie business, throwing a rock through a window at Gympie High and trying to set fire to doors at the school.

Matthew Anthony McQuistan leaves Gympie District Court. January 29, 2024.

At the time of the offences, McQuistan was accompanied by two other youth co-offenders, and was 18 years old, almost 19, the court heard.

When the police arrested him in January 2023, they found photos and videos on his phone which gave rise to six sexual charges, Crown Prosecutor Burn said.

His mother, father, brother and some friends supported him in court, and his mother gasped when Judge Glen Cash told the court he was looking at being a registered sex offender for five years.

Defence barrister William Prizeman told the court that growing up, McQuistan had lived between his separated parents or with his sister, and his difficulties began when he started to hang out with his co-offenders.

Because of his young age and the circumstances of the sexual offending as being “exceptional”, Judge Cash gave him two years probation with no immediate conviction, taking in almost one year of pre-sentence custody.

McQuistan was warned that if he breached probation he risked a re-sentencing, which would name him as a registered sex offender.