Runcorn State High School handyman John Tapp’s ‘depraved’ child exploitation stash

A school handyman caught with child exploitation material was shocked to learn he would lose his Blue Card and therefore job, claiming he “wasn’t a threat to children”.

An elderly Logan handyman employed at the time of his arrest at a Brisbane southside high school has been sentenced for a “particularly disgusting and depraved” stash of child exploitation images and videos, running into the tens of thousands, which depicted children as young as six-months and forced bestiality.

Berrinba man John William Tapp, 73, who the court heard was formerly employed as a casual handyman at Runcorn State High School and possessed a Blue Card, pleaded guilty in Beenleigh District Court on Monday to one count of possessing child exploitation material.

Tapp was arrested and charged after a search warrant executed at his residence on June 2, 2019, revealed the disturbing extent of his depravity.

Berrinba man John William Tapp, 73. Picture: Facebook

All up, police discovered nearly 13,000 images and 1500 videos on Tapp’s desktop computer and three hard-drives, stored in folders with names including, ‘Do not delete’, ‘Videos best to keep’ and ‘Vids very good’, the court heard.

The court heard that when interviewed by police, Tapp admitted to a sexual interest in girls in their “mid-teens”, and that he had been downloading the material for “three to four years”, but claimed any material depicting younger children was inadvertently downloaded.

The Crown submitted Tapp showed a staggering lack of insight during his record of interview with police, describing himself as only a “voyeur” who wasn’t paying for the content, and claiming he “didn’t think he was hurting anyone” by watching the child exploitation material.

He further claimed he “didn’t like violence against children”, and had “difficulty accepting” the termination of his employment at Runcorn SHS and loss of his Blue Card, as he believed he “wasn’t a threat to children”.

Defence counsel Kate Gover told the court her client began with a growing dependence on adult porn, before descending into the murky world of child exploitation material.

She submitted Tapp’s growing porn consumption was precipitated by a messy divorce from his wife of decades, with whom he had two adult children.

She further noted the offending was “not particularly sophisticated”, the material being accessed by torrent sites and search terms including the word “smutty”.

Ms Gover also placed emphasis on Tapp’s lack of criminal history: his only prior entry stemmed from the discovery of 142 Viagra tablets during the search warrant which uncovered the vile child exploitation stash.

Judge Chowdhury sentenced Tapp to 20 months’ imprisonment but took the extraordinary step of wholly suspending it for two years.

Ordinarily, offending of this nature requires time in actual custody to be served, unless the defence could prove “extraordinary circumstances”.

Judge Chowdhury was satisfied these did exist due to Tapp’s ill-health, having recently had his prostate removed due to cancer and the reasonable likelihood it may return.

An Education Queensland representative told the Albert & Logan News that since Tapp was not a current employee of the school, it would not be making comment.

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