Former Queensland Police Officer Paul David Booker sentenced for possessing child abuse material
A former police officer who was stopped for baggage examination and found in possession of child abuse images has avoided jail time.
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A former Queensland police officer who told authorities he was compiling a folder filled with child abuse images to help in an investigation has avoided spending any actual time behind bars.
New Zealand-born Paul David Booker was stopped at Brisbane International Airport on a returning flight from Auckland when he was searched by Border Force Officers, commonwealth prosecutor Sam Lanskey said.
The 54-year-old, who worked as a Qld police officer at Bowen and Tara stations until 2012, appeared in Townsville District Court for possessing 82 child abuse-related media files.
Mr Lanksey said officers found a two minute and 20 second video that depicted a 14-year-old girl engaged in sexual acts on his phone.
The man told officers he messaged women he met on online dating applications for child abuse material so he could “pass that information onto police”.
“He made admissions to receiving up to six videos and between 20 and 50 images of child abuse material between 2020 and 2022, which he then saved to a folder called ‘X report’,” the prosecutor said.
Booker told authorities he spoke to an ex-colleague who still served as a policeman about the folder and the officer wasn’t interested, and no information was ever forwarded to any law enforcement.
Mr Lanksey said the man claimed he didn’t pay for the child abuse material and didn’t send it to anyone else.
“A forensic examination of the phone revealed he imported a total of 82 media files identified as child abuse material, 81 of the files were images and one video,” the prosecutor said.
“The collection included actual female and male children aged between 12 months and 14 years of age.
“The examination also revealed screenshots saved on the device that recorded three different What’s App threads between the defendant and adult women from the Philippines having discussions related to child abuse material.”
The prosecutor said in those discussions the man asked how old a woman was when she had sex with an eight-year-old boy, and asked for younger photos and videos of herself.
“His explanation that he was compiling information to report to police does not ring true,” Mr Lanskey said.
“The only reasonable inference is he had a sexual interest in children.”
Defence barrister Nicholas Brown instructed by Phillips Crawford Lawyers said his client who had no criminal history claimed to have deleted the folder in 2022 and hadn’t accessed it since.
Mr Brown detailed Booker’s lengthy career history which included being a professional cricket player in New Zealand and cricket coach as well as a PE teacher before moving to Queensland as a police officer.
He additionally worked on a farm in Gatton before turning to train driving in Toowoomba and Bowen.
“He is otherwise a well-functioning citizen,” his lawyer said.
It was also suggested that if Booker were to spend actual time in custody he would “fail the character test” and his Visa would be automatically cancelled.
Judge John Coker noted it was unclear whether Booker was a person of interest when he landed at the airport or if he were subject to a random search.
He said the former officer may have had “genuine and appropriate thoughts” but the actions “were misguided”.
“It is deplorable material and whilst as I say there may have been genuine intent on your part with regard to providing information in relation to an illegal pedophile ring or otherwise that holding of the documents and obtaining them in the first instance is of course misguided,” His Honour said.
Booker pleaded guilty to importing tier 2 goods.
He was sentenced to 12 months jail, released immediately on a good behaviour order of $1000 for three years and will be subject to a probation order for one year.
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Originally published as Former Queensland Police Officer Paul David Booker sentenced for possessing child abuse material
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