Ipswich man, Michael Herbert Maguire, sentenced after taking raunchy pics of woman

An Ipswich photographer and aspiring lawyer has fronted court after a woman discovered lewd photos online that he had taken while she slept.

Ipswich man, Michael Herbert Maguire, sentenced after taking raunchy pics of a woman while she slept. November 29, 2022. Picture: Nicola McNamara

An Ipswich photographer has cleared his name of rape despite pleading guilty to taking intimate photos of a woman while she slept.

Pine Mountain father and financial advisor Michael Herbert Maguire, 57, pleaded guilty in Ipswich District Court on November 29, 2022, to a single charge of recording in breach of privacy.

Crown prosecutor Michelle Parfitt said Maguire was initially charged with rape, and the matter had been listed for trial.

However, she said the prosecution formally dropped that indictment after negotiations for Maguire to plead guilty to the breach of privacy charge.

Ms Parfitt said Maguire’s offending occurred some years ago against a woman he had had an intimate relationship with but was not uncovered until more recently, when the woman reported to police that intimate images Maguire had taken without her permission had surfaced online.

The police uncovered 17 photographs Maguire had taken of her while she slept, and one image showed her exposed breast and underwear.

Ms Parfitt said Maguire had “breached the trust placed on him by the complainant”.

Defence barrister Chris O’Meara said Maguire was a photographer and said the woman had consented to having intimate relations with Maguire, and to him taking some intimate images of her – but not to those particular photos while she slept.

Mr O’Meara said the police had investigated how the images wound up online but had accepted Maguire was not responsible for their distribution.

He emphasised Maguire had further spent the last 15 years “bettering himself” in terms of his higher education, having obtained a Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Business from the University of Southern Queensland, and most recently a Juris Doctor.

Maguire had predominantly worked in financial services, but more recently started working towards his aspirations of becoming a solicitor.

Mr O’Meara asked that convictions not be recorded, as that could affect Maguire’s freedom to travel, and Maguire’s wife was from the Philippines.

Judge Dennis Lynch noted Maguire’s wife and two-year-old son relied heavily upon him, and that he had lost his most recent employment after he was charged with rape (which, after pleading guilty to the breach of privacy, he was formally discharged of).

He said Maguire would have to disclose this offending to admissions authorities if he continued down the path of becoming a solicitor — regardless of whether or not convictions were recorded.

Judge Lynch further noted character references from Maguire’s friends and family, which he said demonstrated he had otherwise “led a blameless life” and been a “decent contributing member of the community”.

Maguire was ultimately fined $1000, referred to the State Penalties Enforcement Registry, and no convictions were recorded.