Brendan Scott Ballinger pleads guilty to child exploitation material charges

Explicit “artbook” drawings have landed a 39-year-old Qld man with a history of child exploitation material convictions back in court for the third time in five years.

Brendan Scott Ballinger appeared before Kingaroy District Court in May 2025 on child exploitation material charges. Photo: Facebook

A “lonely” South Burnett man with a history of convictions related to child sexual abuse images has faced court on similar charges for the third time in five years.

Brendan Scott Ballinger, 39, pleaded guilty in Kingaroy District Court recently to one count of making child exploitation material and one count of possessing child exploitation material.

Court documents revealed police searched Ballinger’s Memerambi home in September 2024, and found three artbooks filled with drawings he admitted belonged to him.

The books contained hand-drawn images of “young female characters engaging in sexual acts” and police found 11 images that were determined to be “child exploitation material in nature”.

He was then arrested and released on bail.

The court heard this was the third time Ballinger had been before the court on charges related to image-based offending.

Brendan Scott Ballinger, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of making child exploitation material and one count of possessing child exploitation material in Kingaroy District Court on May 22, 2025.

He was first sentenced on two counts of possessing child exploitation material in November 2020, where he was found with almost 2000 images.

He was sentenced to 15 months, suspended for two years and given two years' probation.

In May 2022, he was again sentenced for child exploitation material offences, which was in breach of his probation, to three years in prison but immediately released on a five-year good behaviour bond.

Judge Carl Heaton said Ballinger had demonstrated a willingness to change his ways during his probation period, had repeatedly engaged with psychological interventions, and had consistently taken his medication, which was designed to reduce the risk of reoffending.

However, he acknowledged it was “concerning” he had committed further offending and the “path to (his) rehabilitation is one which is fraught”.

“This offending represents a continuation of your aberrant sexual proclivity for underage children,” Judge Heaton said.

“The previous attempts by the court (to) provide an incentive, but also support, for you to stop offending has to some extent failed.

“It cannot have been made more clear to you what the consequences of further offending would have been for you.

“Your commitment to addressing the sexual proclivity that led to this offending has been encouraging, but the principal objective is that you stop offending, and yet here we are again.”

Police found artbooks containing hand-drawn images of “young female characters engaging in sexual acts”, which Mr Ballinger admitted belonged to him.

The court heard Ballinger had a strong work ethic and had worked for the same employer for eight or nine years.

He had been diagnosed late in life with an intellectual disability, and lived a “somewhat lonely existence”, however he was close with his family, particularly his mother.

Judge Heaton told the court while these charges showed “a continuing persistence”, he believed the small number of hand-drawn images represented a reduction in the seriousness of Ballinger’s offending which could be a sign the current strategies are working.

Ballinger was sentenced to two years' probation and his convictions were recorded.