Beau Diwan: Logan accountant guilty of child porn stash

An accountant employed at a prestigious Brisbane firm downloaded hundreds of depraved videos featuring children as young as seven, a court heard.

A Logan associate at one of Brisbane’s top tax firms downloaded hundreds of child exploitation material videos featuring children as young as seven, but continued to deny being sexually attracted to the sickening acts, a court heard.

Hillcrest man Beau Reuben Tom Diwan, 26, pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court to three offences relating to possessing, using a carriage service to access, and using a carriage service to make available child exploitation material.

The court heard the offences occurred at various times between October 9, 2015 and May 24, 2016, when Diwan, then aged 21, was arrested and charged following the execution of a search warrant.

Hillcrest accountant Beau Reuben Tom Diwan, 26. Picture: Facebook

Diwan, who came to police attention after they were able to trace an IP address used by himself to download the material from a torrenting website, had also shared the material via the same application, in a process known as ‘seeding’.

The court heard Diwan had downloaded 76 videos on January 29, 2016, and downloaded a further 662 videos on May 20, 2016, which he ‘seeded’ for the next four days, meaning a “potentially vast” number of people were then able to access it.

Crown prosecutor Gabriel Perry told the court Diwan used a ‘dark web’ browser to research search terms and way of downloading the vile material, and had viewed dozens of the videos he downloaded, so therefore knew what he was accessing and sharing.

However, despite this, Mr Perry said Diwan continued to profess an absence of sexual arousal arising from viewing the videos, instead claiming it was “nothing more than curiosity” that led him to access the material.

The court heard Diwan’s career had been placed in jeopardy as a result of his offending, as his profession’s governing body may not longer consider him to be a ‘fit and proper’ person.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Diwan is employed as an associate at one of Brisbane’s leading taxation firms.

Diwan was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years.

Judge Paul Smith said he spared Diwan a custodial sentence due to the inordinate delay in bringing the case, through no fault of the defendant; the stress and anxiety caused to Diwan due to the delay; his remorse and rehabilitation; and his professional accomplishment since his offending.

“But for the delay and positive steps taken towards your rehabilitation, a sentence involving actual custody may have been inevitable,” Judge Smith said.