Ipswich police senior constable Justin Owen guilty of child porn

An Ipswich police senior constable who called himself ‘PervDad’ online pretended to be a 13yo girl and told other men their “pleasure was paramount”. WARNING – DISTURBING

An Ipswich police senior constable who called himself ‘PervDad’ online engaged in sick internet chatter with others online where he adopted the persona of a 13-year-old girl and engaged in explicit conversations with them, telling them their “pleasure was paramount”.

What Moores Pocket man Justin Troy Owen, 47, didn’t know, however, was that even by pretending to be a child he was guilty of producing child exploitation material (CEM).

Owen pleaded guilty in Ipswich District Court on Monday to producing and distributing CEM at Ripley between March 3, 2019 – May 12, 2020.

Now resigned from his career in the Queensland Police Service, Owen’s child exploitation offences were described by Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren SC as ‘depravity’, when he faced court on Monday.

Court documents lodged as part of the case against Owen revealed the extent of his perversion.

His repulsive communications as ‘PervDad’ and other adopted personas included:

– Sending images of a female child in swimwear.

– Sending a picture of a female child in a leotard alongside sexualised conversation.

– Pretending to be a girl aged 13 or 14 to engage in graphic conversations with others including discussing rape.

– Pretending to be a teacher at a dance school in New Zealand who had had sex with underage students, he commented, “Your pleasure is paramount”.

The court was told the charges arose from a police search in June 2020.

Crown prosecutor Amanda Robinson summarised his communications as broadly pretending to be a caregiver or in control of a child with descriptions of non-consensual and degrading acts against young females.

When first spoken to by investigating officers Owen said he did not believe the conversations to be examples of child exploitation, the court heard.

Defence barrister Mr Taylor argued that the offence was at the lower end of the spectrum but conceded that “the acts described are depraved”.

“The offences involved details of fantasy in words. Aggravating is the length of time it occurred over and the number of people he engaged with,” he said.

Justin Troy Owen hid his face as he left court.

Mr Taylor said Owen now accepted with insight that his offending was terrible and (when charged) he had taken immediate steps to get professional help.

Judg Horneman-Wren expressed horror at Owen’s behaviour.

“The exchanges were utterly depraved in their context,” he said.

“The fact that you are a sworn police officer is an aggravating factor.”

Judge Horneman-Wren said there were exceptional circumstances for Owen not to serve actual jail time.

He was convicted and sentenced to a 12-month jail order immediately suspended, plus a two-year supervised probation order.

He must do counselling and programs.

Owen hid his face from view as he left Ipswich Courthouse with his lawyer.