Ex-University of the Sunshine Coast’s Tommy Lewis jailed for child exploitation material

A former University of the Sunshine Coast employee has been jailed after hoarding thousands of files of children being abused for almost a decade until his home and office were raided by police.

Former University of the Sunshine Coast employee Tommy Lewis has been jailed for possessing child exploitation material. Picture: Brett Wortman

A Diamond Valley man has been sent to jail after hoarding thousands of files of child abuse which led to a prominent university office to be raided.

Tommy Lewis’ legal team accepted there were no exceptional reasons why he should not spend time in custody after pleading guilty to possessing child exploitation material in the Maroochydore District Court on Monday.

The married Diamond Valley man sat in the dock as crown prosecutor Alex Stark told the court how the 45-year-old was found in possession of 2200 files of child exploitation he collected from February 23, 2013 to November 2, 2022.

Mr Stark said Lewis was employed at the University of the Sunshine Coast in its Forest Institute when his home was raided by police in late 2022, where two laptops and external hard drives were seized and analysed.

Tommy Lewis pleaded guilty in the Maroochydore District Court on Monday to possessing child exploitation material. Pictured is a police prosecutor leaving court. Picture: Patrick Woods

The court heard Lewis denied using the laptop to access child exploitation material and claimed it was a family computer.

Four days later detectives raided his workplace to find a thumb drive which had more child exploitation files inside.

Mr Stark said the Diamond Valley man used an internet application called FreeNet, a site which allowed for users to share files anonymously, to download zip files over almost a decade.

The prosecutor said the files included the graphic sexual abuse of children along with bestiality and animations, and hid them in files with names relating to his field of work.

The court heard there were children as young as four-years-old being exploited with some videos ranging from 30 minutes to 50 minutes in length.

Defence barrister Jeffrey Hunter said he would not argue there were exceptional circumstances as to why Lewis should not serve actual time in custody.

Lewis collected the heinous material over almost a decade.

Instead, Mr Hunter spoke of a background of a “highly intelligent and educated” 45-year-old man who had an “highly aversive experience” after being charged.

The prominent barrister said Lewis wasn’t searching for the “egregious” material but downloaded it from others who placed it online, where he eventually “amassed a collection” over several years.

Mr Hunter said Lewis was a married father to two children, had family support and gained insight into his offending.

Judge Glen Cash said Lewis, who had since started his own consulting business after he stopped working at the university, began looking for the depraved material following troubles in his marriage and an addiction to pornography.

The District Court Judge said it was impossible to comprehend how a person of Lewis’ intelligence and education found viewing the “awful and abhorrent” material acceptable, especially since he was a father himself.

Judge Cash however took into account his other circumstances including his rehabilitation along with the “undoubted notoriety” which would follow his sentence.

Lewis was jailed for 18 months, to be suspended after he served four months in custody.