Porn-addicted miner busted with child abuse material

An addiction to porn progressed into collecting more than 1200 child exploitation material files in seven months for one CQ miner.

AN ADDICTION to porn progressed to collecting more than 1200 child exploitation material files in seven months for one Central Queensland miner.

Michael John Jones, 29, pleaded guilty on November 2 in Rockhampton District Court to one count of possessing child exploitation material.

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Crown prosecutor Tiffany Lawrence said police executed a search warrant on Jones’ Clermont residence on December 17, 2019, with Jones declaring an iPad and laptop which contained child porn.

She said other items were also seized.

Ms Lawrence said 1209 images and one video of child exploitation material was found on Jones’ devices.

She said 499 images fell into category one of the Interpol category system.

Category one items depict a real pre-pubescent child (under 13 years) and the child is involved in a sexual act, is witnessing a sexual act or the material is focused/concentrated on the child’s anal or genital region.

Ms Lawrence said 711 fell into category two – files that are illegal according to local legislation either by way of age or content.

“The defendant admitted to police he had been building his collection over a period of seven months,” she said.

Ms Lawrence said some of the images fell into category four of the old system.

The old system was the COPINE typology system with category four being content being penetrative or sexual activity between adults and children.

Ms Lawrence said one image was of a girl with her wrists bounded by chains.

Defence barrister Nathan Boyd said Jones, since his arrest, had undergone psychologist sessions and completed a 17 module online course for rehabilitation for such types of criminal activity.

He said after reporting the charges to a supervisor at work, the matter spread like wildfire in the Bowen Basin mine and into the local community.

The court heard Jones had recently divorced and had two children.

Jones was sentenced to 18 months prison, wholly suspended and operational for two years.

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