Buderim man Paul Bingham sentenced for child exploitation material charges

A court has heard disturbing details of a Buderim electrician and business owner’s collection of child exploitation images, which he shared and traded with others online.

Paul Bingham.

A Buderim father and electrician is now a reportable offender after he was caught storing and exchanging disturbing child exploitation material on the internet.

Paul Bingham, 36, pleaded guilty in the Maroochydore District Court to nine charges on January 20.

He was supported by numerous family members in the public gallery throughout his appearance.

The court was told Bingham’s home was searched by police on November 23, 2022, where it was found he had stored child abuse material on two online cloud servers, which he accessed an unknown number of times between November 14 and November 21, 2021.

One server had 44 video files on it, the court was told.

Crown prosecutor Byron Philp said the content – which this publication has chosen not to publish given how graphic it is – involved predominantly female victims ranging from age 3-16.

Paul Bingham

Bingham had also used internet browser Safari to search for material using terms such as “jailbait”, Mr Philp said.

Messages sent through instant messaging app Kik between October 23 and November 18, 2021, then revealed Bingham had been trading content with other users.

Mr Philp said Bingham transmitted six different files on 18 different occasions, and the messages consisted of phrases such as “trade?”, “got links?”, or “I’ll send you a link if you send vids (sic)”.

Mr Philp called the content “very abhorrent material”.

Defence barrister Stephen Kissick described his client, as “a family man”, and said he had lost a lot of work after word of his offending began to spread.

He now had a “good work-life balance”, Mr Kissick said.

Maroochydore Courthouse. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Bingham was removed from his family home by child services after the offending first came to light, Mr Kissick said, and spent 17 days in presentence custody.

He was later able to return to the family home after a variation to his bail.

But upon his release, Bingham began seeing a psychologist and underwent psychotherapy, establishing him at a “low risk” of reoffending, the court was told.

The court was told the psychologist, through a report, suspected personality vulnerabilities, as well as earlier drug abuse and an alcohol addiction, may have played a role in Bingham’s crimes.

Judge Glen Cash said he found it “incomprehensible” that Bingham, as a parent, sought the type of material he did.

He said Bingham would become a reportable offender as a result of his actions.

The court registry confirmed Bingham was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, but was released immediately after spending the 17 days in presentence custody.

Bingham was then placed on 18 months’ probation and given a $1000 good behaviour bond for three years.

Convictions were recorded.

Bingham pleaded guilty to three charges of using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material, three of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material to himself, using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material to others, using a carriage service to access child abuse material and attempting to use a carriage service to transmit child abuse material.