Judge notes link between ice and ‘deviant sexual’ behaviour

A Whitsunday man is now a reportable sex offender after he was caught with a small number of child abuse images

An Airlie Beach man was caught with a small amount of child abuse images on his mobile phone.

A Mackay District Court judge has noted a possible link between ice use and deviant sexual behaviour as a man caught with child abuse material learned his fate.

Police found 12 unique images and nine duplicate child exploitation images on Dayle Ashley Thackray's phone during a search of his Airlie Beach home on June 15, 2019.

"You told police … you accessed this material, you thought when you were experiencing drug-induced psychosis," Judge Julie Dick said.

"And as I say there's some support for that from what I've seen in the last couple of months."

Mackay District Court heard the images were all category one, which is the least serious for that type of material.

Thackray pleaded guilty to possessing child exploitation material, which generally evokes an actual custodial sentence unless the court deems there to be exceptional circumstances.

 

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However Thackray was placed on two years' probation and a conviction was not recorded. He will, however, be a registered sex offender.

Defence barrister Stephen Byrne said his 49-year-old client relapsed into ice use following a relationship breakdown.

"He has completed extensive drug rehabilitation, which he considers the catalyst for his offending," Mr Byrne said.

Judge Dick noted a number of recent cases while sitting in Mackay District Court where there had been "a connection between ice and really quite deviant sexual behaviour".

"It's starting to occur to me that in some people it's a trigger for really strange sexual (behaviour)," Judge Dick said, before adding, "I'm not saying this man."

There was a unanimous consensus between the crown, defence and Judge Dick this case could be deemed "exceptional" when balanced against the small number of low level images, the man's good character and his significant steps towards rehabilitation.

The court heard he spent nine months and one week in a drug rehabilitation centre. 

Judge Dick also took into account his "prejudicial" upbringing marked with years of sexual abuse and that he was treated for depression by age 15.

 

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