Clifton Donges: Army veteran guilty of child abuse material

A Brisbane court has heard the bizarre reason why a Sunshine Coast veteran with a decorated Army career possessed depraved material.

A traumatised Sunshine Coast veteran has told a court his stash of depraved child exploitation material (CEM) was for “research purposes”.

Clifton James Donges, 45, formerly of Petrie north of Brisbane, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Friday to a single count of possessing CEM.

The court heard the vile material was detected following a search warrant executed on Donges’ Petrie residence on December 7 last year.

Analysis of a desktop computer at that address uncovered 69 CEM images and evidence they had been transferred from Donges’ mobile phone.

Donges, who was not home at the time, was arrested at a military facility in Redbank, the court heard.

Analysis of his mobile phone uncovered a further 30 images.

All told, Donges possessed 99 CEM images and six videos.

Sunshine Coast hinterland man Clifton James Donges, 45, formerly of Petrie. Picture: LinkedIn

Of those, 75 images and three videos depicted CEM in the most serious category, featuring actual children forced to perform a variety of degrading and disgusting acts.

The court heard Donges lied to police by telling them he believed the children were over the age of 18, an assertion Judge Jennifer Rosengren said was not plausible.

In a psychiatrist’s report prepared for this morning’s (Friday) sentence, Donges insisted he had no sexual interest in the material.

Rather, he was viewing it for “research purposes” in an attempt to ascertain how vulnerable children found themselves in a situation where they were liable to be abused.

This claim was accepted by the court.

The report further concluded Donges was “no risk” of reoffending.

Following his arrest and discharge on bail, Donges, a decorated Australian Army veteran who suffers PTSD, major depression and anxiety, checked himself in as an inpatient to a psychiatric facility, the court heard.

Following his discharge, Donges moved with his wife and one of his three children into his mother-in-law’s farm in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, where he lived a “secluded lifestyle”.

The court heard he enjoyed the support of his friends and family, half a dozen of whom were in court for the sentencing, and regularly saw a psychologist.

Defence counsel Adam Mason told the court his client continued to struggle with “a number of very serious mental health conditions from his military service, which included combat”.

Donges served from 1999 until he discharged himself in 2012, at which point he gained employment with a military contractor.

In 2018, he also joined the Caboolture Army Reserves, the court heard.

Judge Rosengren said she accepted Donges was “disgusted” by the CEM, but that he “kept clicking in an obsessive manner”.

She sentenced him to three years’ probation, finding there were exceptional circumstances which did not warrant a term of actual custody being imposed, and did not record a conviction.