Brian John Newton pleads guilty to having child exploitation pics

A Qld forklift driver has been busted with hundreds of exploitation photos and videos depicting children as young as newborn, which he shared with other groups on an encrypted social media app. *WARNING GRAPHIC

A South Burnett forklift driver has been busted with hundreds of exploitation photos and videos depicting children as young as newborn, which he shared on the encrypted social media application Viber.

A South Burnett forklift driver has been busted with hundreds of exploitation photos and videos depicting children as young as newborn, which he shared on an encrypted social media application.

Brian John Newton’s offending was uncovered by police investigating the use of an encrypted messaging service called Viber in October 2023, published court sentencing documents said.

Newton was a member of at least three groups on the app which were exchanging the illicit images.

The 47-year-old’s home was then searched by police, during which Newton handed his phone to police.

Officers found Viber had been downloaded on to it, and two chats on the app had exchanges of video footage of men performing sex acts on children as young as three months’ old, Kingaroy District Court heard.

A South Burnett forklift driver has been busted with hundreds of exploitation photos and videos depicting children as young as newborn, which he shared on the encrypted social media application Viber.

Police found another 572 images and 245 videos which showed children under the age of 13 witnessing a sexual act.

Another 182 images and 122 videos involving children under the age of 16 were found, too.

The court heard Newton had used four different encrypted messaging services to access and download the material, after which he would send them to other chats.

His offending spanned 11 years, starting intermittently in 2014 before escalating to the point he accessed the material multiple times in October 2023.

Newton told police some of the children in the videos were as young as newborn and to stay in the chat he had to share videos as well as view them.

The court heard his criminal history largely consisted of drug offending.

Judge Jennifer Rosengren said in her sentencing remarks the business Newton engaged in was “evil”, and his own distribution elevated his offending of the “heinous” industry.

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Brian John Newton’s offending was uncovered by police investigating the use of an encrypted messaging service called Viber in October 2023, published court sentencing documents said.

“Your conduct has really just encouraged the abhorrent sexual exploitation of these young, vulnerable children,” she said.

Two psychology reports submitted to the courts said Newton grew up in an abusive and dysfunctional home, and while he finished Grade 12, he did not graduate.

His longest stretch of employment was three years as a forklift driver, and had spent short stints in hospitality, cleaning, and as a farmhand, the court heard.

Newton had a history of marijuana use for much of his life and had been drinking to “excess”, sometimes up to a dozen in one go, Judge Rosengren said.

The court heard when the ramifications of his offending were explained to him by a psychologist he “felt shame, guilt and embarrassment”, and was now undergoing treatment.
The two psychologists were split on whether Newton had a pedophilic disorder, the court heard.

Newton pleaded guilty to possessing child exploitation material, distributing child exploitation material, and distributing it using an anonymising service.

Judge Rosengren sentenced him to three years’ jail, to be suspended for five years after eight months was served.