Alec Stephen West, 32, pleads guilty to producing child abuse video game

A sickening online child abuse game created by a Geelong pedophile was downloaded hundreds of thousands of times and generated almost a million dollars, a court has heard. WARNING: GRAPHIC

Alec Stephen West leaving Geelong court last year.

A sickening online video game, allowing thousands of paying subscribers to simulate the sexual abuse of children, became a Highton pedophile’s “full-time job”, a court has heard.

Alec Stephen West, 32, appeared in the County Court at Geelong on Monday and pleaded guilty to a raft of charges, including controlling, producing, accessing, transmitting, making available and possessing child abuse material.

West also pleaded guilty to dealing with the proceeds of crime and three charges related to covertly filming three young women without their knowledge.

Crown prosecutor Holly Baxter told the court the “deranged” game was distributed on multiple online platforms and was a “visual novel” with a fictional, incestuous plot.

The game allowed users to make choices that led to pre-rendered sex scenes and featured “graphic storylines” that simulated sexual offending against children.

The gameplay involved 3D-rendered animation and text-based child abuse material, with female characters that appeared “childlike and pre-pubescent”.

Users had the ability to set the ages of the characters, with the lowest setting being just 12.

West, who worked full-time on the game since creating it in mid-2020, made money through subscriptions, offering users early access to updates and forums.

The home of Alec Stephen West. Photo: AFP

The court heard West made just under $930,000 between September 2020 and August 2023.

On one platform, West had more than 3000 paying subscribers. On another, the game was downloaded more than 565,000 times.

However the court heard it was impossible to know how many times it was shared and downloaded in total.

West’s home was raided on August 2 last year and police seized multiple electronic devices, which not only contained more than 140,000 child abuse files related to the game itself but 577 files containing child abuse material involving real children.

The court heard West, a father of two sons, told a psychologist that his initial reaction to child abuse material was to “feel sick”, however Judge Gerard Mullaly noted it “didn’t stop him” returning to it.

Judge Mullaly said it was difficult to reconcile the dissonance between West’s apparent appreciation for the importance of being a parent, with the “the horrors contained in the things that he watched for his own gratification”.

Alec Stephen West. Picture: supplied

Ms Baxter said West’s conduct was an example of the “insidious” way child abuse material can spread across the globe.

She said the game was not victimless just because it did not depict real children, as it had the potential to normalise sexual activity involving children and “fuel the demand” for child abuse material.

The home of Alec Stephen West. Photo: AFP

West’s lawyer, barrister Sally Buckley, told the court her client had co-operated with investigators, had pleaded guilty at an early stage and had “reasonable” prospects for rehabilitation - provided he engage with the right programs.

“He is someone who understands what he was doing was wrong, but doesn’t have the insight to appreciate it fully,” Ms Buckley said.

Ms Buckley told the court West, who finished school midway through year 10, had “perhaps deluded himself into thinking this was a real job”.

West was remanded into custody and will be sentenced in February next year.

Originally published as Alec Stephen West, 32, pleads guilty to producing child abuse video game