Former Mount Maria teacher pleads guilty to child-exploitation charges

A former Brisbane catholic high school teacher contacted a child through Snapchat, convincing her to engage in “explicit and degrading activities”, while recording her without her knowledge, a court has heard.

Former high school teacher Lucas John Gill was remanded in custody. Picture: Tara Croser

A former high school teacher contacted a child through Snapchat convincing her to engage in “explicit and degrading activities”, while recording her without her knowledge, at the same time of his employment.

Former Mount Maria teacher Lucas John Gill pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child-exploitation material, three counts of making child-exploitation material, one count of using intent to procure a child under 16, one count of grooming a child under 16, one count of using carrier service to access child abuse material, and one count of possessing child-exploitation material in Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday.

Crown prosecutor Elise Adams said when police seized his phone, a significant volume of child-exploitation images and videos were found.

There were 305 images and 264 videos of pre-pubescent children involved in a sexual act or focus on their genitals, and 4868 unique images and 289 videos that classify as category two child-exploitation material.

“It’s suffice to say that it did include material depicting and use in the worst categories that included the rape of children as young as three years old by adult males,” she said.

Ms Adams said counts four to six referred to Gill contacting the child on Snapchat and beginning to talk to her.

“She identified herself as being 13 years old, and then proceeded to direct her to engage in – the Crown’s submissions – of explicit and degrading activities.

“Because she believed those images would not be recorded or obtained because it was done on Snapchat, however the defendant recorded it on another device which enabled him to keep it

Former teacher Lucas John Gill. Picture: Tara Croser

She said he created 15 sexually explicit videos.

The Crown also said he sent her a video of himself masturbating with his penis.

In a separate incident, he made child-exploitation material involving a nine-year-old who was changing in the bathroom in his house.

“Although it was accepted the actual recording of the nine year old changing was captured inadvertently,” she said.

“The recording happened on 29 August 2020; on the 10 Sep 2020, the defendant rerecorded some of that footage, thereby capturing it on another device, and he kept both those versions of the footage for almost a year until he was detected by police.

“In the Crown submission, the criminality is he deliberately recorded it on to another device in order to keep it.

Prosecution alleged a child’s underwear was found in his home by police, when the defence was asked he asked his client who said it was just “small in size”.

Judge William Everson was critical of teacher Lucas John Gill’s response.

Judge William Everson was critical of Gill’s response.

“To say it is small in size, it doesn’t answer the question,” he said.

“These are the sort of weasels words he uses and they don’t reflect well on his character, I've got to say.

“If he knows what it was and the prosecution’s case is its child’s underwear and he says its small in size.

“There’s a big difference between something being the underwear worn by a 12-year-old girl and something that would be worn by a 17-year-old.

“It doesn't really help me that doesn’t reflect favourably on him.”

The case was adjourned to later in the week over a dispute between defence and the Crown over the findings of two separate psychologist and psychiatrists report

“In the Crown’s submission, the act of him masturbating and encouraging this child to perform certain sexual acts does not sit comfortably,” Ms Adams said.

“My primary concern with respect to both of these reports is the characterisation of both his sexual interest in children and lack of there of and the indication on that as to the future.

“That’s because there finds out that he’s interested in pubescent children, not pre-pubescent children.”

Defence said the psychologist who had written the report was travelling domestically and was unavailable to answer questions about it.

Judge Everson said he had not seen a case like this before.

“From my perspective, and I’ve read the submissions and I’ve read the material, this case involves a particular conglomeration or aggregation of offending which none of the cases address individually,” he said.

“They address assets of the offending, but I don’t have offending involving serious child-exploitation material and a lot of it.

“The abuse of trust as a teacher using images obtained in the course of his employment, those together the accumulations, aggravating which none of the cases address.”

He said some other cases had parts of it but not all together.

Judge Everson adjourned the case to later in the week and remanded Gill in custody after he was previously on bail.