Former partner of pedophile says he accessed child abuse to maintain relationship
The former partner of convicted pedophile Christopher Farrell has taken to the witness box in a Hobart court, stating he only accessed child abuse material to “keep his relationship”.
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The former partner of convicted Hobart pedophile Christopher Farrell has told a Hobart court he ‘didn’t know why’ he engaged in the distribution and sale of child abuse material in his hearing on Wednesday.
David James Harvey, 56, has pleaded guilty to charges relating to the Australian Federal Police-led “Operation Arkstone” targeting child abuse material shared online in Australia.
Harvey is faced with five counts of using a carriage service for child abuse materials, one count of controlling child abuse material and one count of possessing bestiality material.
Police charged Harvey and Farrell in 2022 when they swooped on Harvey’s Hobart home as part of the nationwide sting.
Farrell was convicted of 11 Commonwealth counts of using a carriage service to access, possess, transmit, solicit and cause child abuse material to be transmitted to himself, plus two summary charges, including the possession of bestiality material in May this year.
He received a sentence of seven years’ jail, with a non-parole period of four years.
Farrell has been diagnosed with “paraphilia”, a non-exclusive pedophilic disorder – meaning he is also attracted to adults.
Harvey told Acting Justice Brian Martin in Hobart’s Supreme Court of Tasmania during his sentencing hearing that he only accessed and shared child abuse material to keep the interest of his then-partner Farrell as “he didn’t want to lose someone else in his life”.
“I tried to keep the relationship and I allowed him to watch child abuse material and allowed him to have somewhat of an open relationship,” he said.
During the course of their relationship, Harvey said he engaged in watching child abuse material alongside Farrell, both images and videos, while also talking with other online individuals about the material, even exchanging files with another person.
At the time of the police search on his home, Harvey was in possession of four devices, with a total of 42 photos and two videos of child abuse material, including a photo of a 16-year-old.
Harvey’s defence lawyer James Crotty said there was an argument for exceptional circumstances in this case given the loss of his father and mother in 2019 and 2020 and a poor mental state driving Harvey’s decisions.
He also said that the offending only occurred while in the relationship with Farrell, stating he was the only motivating factor behind accessing child abuse material.
“What we have, Your Honour, is an exceptionally small amount of images than what normally comes before the court in these matters,” Mr Crotty said.
“The 42 images – there is no suggestion they are near the depravity or seriousness which Mr Farrell was sentenced for.
“The exceptional factor is the nature of Mr Harvey himself and how he came to be part of the possession, solicitation and transmission of child abuse material.
“That is essentially his relationship with Farrell and why he was predisposed to enter into this sort of relationship.
“His accessing of child abuse material is not for his sexual gratification.”
However Justice Martin argued that the motivation behind accessing and possessing the material wasn’t relevant and motivation would only be considered as an aggravating factor, not mitigating.
Federal prosecutor Szara Isaacs told the court the prosecution accepted that evidence around the relationship between Harvey and Farrell is “contextual” but did not change its submission to the charges.
Harvey was bailed to appear for sentencing on December 11.
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Originally published as Former partner of pedophile says he accessed child abuse to maintain relationship
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