South Burnett man who made and possessed child exploitation material back in court

A South Burnett man previously convicted for making and possessing child pornography found himself back before the court.

A South Burnett man previously convicted for making and possessing child exploitation material found himself back before the court after an “emergency situation” brought him into contact with two children.

Charged with breaching a suspended sentence, Devan Morgan, 58, pleaded guilty to coming into contact with the youths and failing to report an internet dongle.

The breach relates to sentences handed down in November 2019, resulting in an 18 month prison sentence for making child exploitation material, which was suspended after serving three months for an operational period of three years.

For possessing child exploitation material, he was imprisoned for three months before being released on probation.

In relation to the original offending, prosecutor Christa Nicola said Morgan was found in possession of 4000 unique images which fell under category one, and 17 000 falling under the other categories.

He was also found in excess of 900 videos.

The defendant was represented by Catherine Cuthbert.

Ms Cuthbert said Morgan came into contact with the children as a result of an “emergency situation”.

In relation to the second offence, Ms Cuthbert said Morgan was not aware that possessing the dongle put him in breach of the order.

“My client just hadn't put it together that it contained a SIM card, which connected him to the internet,” she said.

Noting the defendant's compliance with the existing probation order up until this point, Judge Glen Cash QC said activating the suspended sentence in its entirety would be “unjust”.

“To activate the suspended sentence would see you go to jail for potentially two years and nine months,” he said.

“That would be in my view a disproportionate result.”

Instead, Judge Cash extended the suspended sentence by another year, which now extends through to 2023.

“If you commit another offence like these, and you come back before a judge on a second time breaching the order, you can expect that you‘ll be dealt with more harshly than I’ve dealt with you today.”