Ron Brierley: Child abuse material guilty plea confirmed
The once-mighty corporate raider Sir Ron Brierley sat inside a plush law office as he confirmed his guilt before the District Court.
Central Sydney
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The once-mighty corporate raider Sir Ron Brierley sat inside a plush law office as his vile crime was mentioned before Sydney District Court for the first time since confessing to possession child abuse material.
The 83-year-old millionaire businessman, who has a mansion at Point Piper, was represented by barrister Lisa-Claire Hutchinson who appeared on a video link and confirmed her client’s guilt.
Brierley pleaded guilty to a single charge of possessing child abuse material earlier this month, with court documents stating they involved girls as young as two years old.
The offence carries a maximum penalty of ten years jail.
The court heard on Friday that a new crown prosecutor had taken charge of the case just two days ago, with a discussion set to take place to negotiate the facts of the offending.
Both parties indicated to Judge Christopher O’Brien they had confidence the issues in dispute would be resolved, or at least narrowed.
When Brierley pleaded guilty earlier this month, 14 counts of the same offence were withdrawn.
The New Zealand-born man was stopped by Australian Border Force officers at Sydney Airport following a flight from Fiji in December 2019.
Australian Federal Police alleged at the time that he was caught with thousands of images and videos on electronic devices found in his carry on bags and at his Point Piper property.
Court documents state that officers found 1615 images on a storage device accessed as a result of raids in 2019, although Brierley disputes this.
The charges which have now been withdrawn alleged the possession of tens of thousands more files discovered during the two searches, at the airport and at Brierley’s luxury home.
Brierley had been considered business royalty in both his birth country of New Zealand and adopted home of Australia
The Wellington-born former head of the Bank of New Zealand was knighted in 1988 and also served on the board of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust.
The matter will return to court on May 21.
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