Frederick James Bishop pleads guilty to failing to comply with reporting

A Beerwah man, recently convicted of accessing and transmitting child abuse material, was back in court on Thursday, just weeks after being released from prison.

Frederick James Bishop leaves Maroochydore Magistrates Court.

A Beerwah man who previously admitted to accessing and transmitting child abuse material has been nabbed after failing to keep up with his probation obligations.

Formerly a Beerwah courier, Frederick James Bishop, 46, spent about 11 months in prison following a search warrant on his Beerwah home on August 25, 2023.

In August, 2024, Bishop pleaded guilty at Maroochydore District Court to possessing, accessing and transmitting child abuse material.

During his sentencing, the court heard police found 16 child abuse material files on a Samsung hard drive as well as on Bishop’s Session account, an encrypted and anonymising instant messaging platform.

The files included cartoon and real children engaged in sexual acts.

Frederick James Bishop. Picture: Social media

Bishop also accessed written child abuse material stories and used encrypted applications Telegram and Session to search for images and videos of young boys between January 9, 2023 and August 25, 2023.

Police also discovered the 46-year-old had sent child abuse material files to 32 users on 53 occasions through Telegram, Session and Instagram between January 18, 2023 and August 21, 2023, which predominantly focused on young boys in sexual acts with adults.

Bishop was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail, with 342 days counted as time served, and was released under a three-year good behaviour recognisance order.

However, he missed his first reporting requirement following his release from custody on August 1, 2024.

Frederick James Bishop leaves the Maroochydore Court House.

Magistrate Raelene Ellis expressed concern over Bishop’s immediate noncompliance.

“If there’s a time when he’s going to remember his obligations, surely it’s within the months following his release from custody, given he was only released on the sentence date of the 1st of August,” Ms Ellis said.

“He gets out of custody and immediately forgets his obligations?” she questioned.

The court heard Bishop’s mental health declined following his release, exacerbated by the recent passing of his mother.

He has since been diagnosed with depression and is seeing a counsellor fortnightly and a psychiatrist monthly, the court was told.

Ms Ellis said the order was implemented to safeguard children within the community.

“If you can’t comply with them, then you will see this court very swiftly move to considerations of terms of imprisonment, of actual imprisonment,” Ms Ellis said.

Bishop pleaded guilty to the fresh charge, was fined $1500, and convictions were recorded.