Somerset dad William Robert Wright jailed for sick exploitation material stash

A Somerset man tried to pass off blame to his daughter after police uncovered his sick child porn stash, which a court heard contained swathes of material of the ‘most foul’ kind. WARNING: GRAPHIC

A Somerset man tried to pass off blame to his daughter after police uncovered his sick child porn stash, which a court heard contained swathes of material of the ‘most foul’ kind.

A Somerset man attempted to blame his daughter for his own sick child porn stash, but was supported by his wife in court at his sentence for the ‘most foul’ material.

Ivory Creek dad William Robert Wright, 61, pleaded guilty in Ipswich District Court on July 11, 2023, to four counts of possessing child exploitation material and one count of using a carriage service to distribute child abuse material.

Police uncovered Wright’s offending after he uploaded 10 incriminating images to a torrent platform on November 25, 2020.

Judge Deborah Richards said the material Wright uploaded was “child exploitation material of the most foul kind”.

She said it included images of girls as young as six years old — all unknown to Wright.

Police searched Wright’s Ivory Creek home on March 30, 2022, and seized a desktop computer and three external hard drives.

They uncovered 708 unique images and 47 unique videos saved across the devices.

Judge Richards said 473 images and 41 videos were classified as category one — the most serious category.

She said they showed explicit acts involving male and female children as young as babies and toddlers.

She also noted one of the worst videos was 15 minutes long.

Judge Richards said the material included children forced to engage bestiality.

The court heard Wright had initially suggested to police that the material belonged to his adult daughter.

He eventually admitted the material was his, however, and that he had been downloading it for the last five or six years.

Judge Richards noted Wright had a “very stable” relationship with his wife, who supported him in court.

She said Wright had no relevant criminal history and a good work history.

A psychological report indicated Wright had a cognitive disorder and memory problems from an incident which occurred during his early life.

He was currently on a disability pension as a result.

The report also suggested Wright’s offending had been brief and did not appear to have become entrenched.

Judge Richards said that finding was inconsistent with Wright’s own admission that he had been downloading the material for five or six years.

She said she would place little to no weight on the report’s suggestions surrounding Wright’s likelihood of reoffending as a result.

“I can accept that your time in custody, particularly given other health problems you have, will not be as pleasant as some others,” Judge Richards said.

Wright’s legal representatives argued that he should not serve any time in custody due to health circumstances, but Judge Richards said she could not accept Wright’s health problems as enough cause for him to avoid jail.

“I have difficulty understanding how the disorder and the memory problems would have impacted on the access and downloading child pornography – particularly where the psychologist says ‘you maintain the ability to recognise your behaviour was morally wrong and unlawful’,” she said.

“In my view, this is serious offending. The category of images are of the most serious kind, there’s a substantial amount, there’s videos that are quite long.”

Wright was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, to be suspended for two years after he has served six months in actual custody.

He was also sentenced to an additional 18 months imprisonment, with immediate release under a recognisance of $1000 and a condition that he be subject to probation for two years.