Dubbo Local Court: Adrian Edward Robert Willis has been sentenced for using a carriage service to send indecent material

A former corrections officer has been slammed by a regional magistrate after not “acknowledging the seriousness” of sending an explicit image to a group of children. Read his sentence.

Former corrections officer Adrian Willis at Dubbo Courthouse.

A former senior corrections officer based near Dubbo has learnt his fate in a regional court after he admitted to sending an explicit image to a group of children.

Adrian Edward Robert Willis, 48, supported by his wife in Dubbo Local Court on Thursday, was convicted after he entered a plea of guilty to using a carriage service to send indecent material to a child under 16.

It comes after The Daily Telegraph and Ray Hadley revealed Willis sent the image to a Snapchat group chat in November 2022 and was not charged for more than a year.

The matter reopened after media involvement earlier this year, where he was charged with the offence in April.

Facts tendered to the court revealed Willis, of Dubbo, sent an image of his penis in a Snapchat group chat of four children and his colleague.

Dubbo Courthouse. Picture: Jedd Manning/Western Aerial Productions

The colleague opened the message and took a screenshot of the image and sent it to Willis on another messaging app asking if it was him.

The offender initially denied the image was of him but later apologised for sending an explicit photo and said he was trying to get rid of spammers.

Adrian Willis has been convicted. Picture: Ryan Young

His solicitor told the court that Willis had realised in hindsight that he made an “incorrect decision”, and it was an accident.

He added Willis did not want to be described as a “sexual deviant” and the incident had “ruined his whole life and career”.

The solicitor said Willis was a “respected member of the community” without dealings of the criminal justice system before the offence.

Magistrate Gary Wilson slammed Willis stating the offence was “extremely serious” and carried up to 10 years imprisonment.

“I don’t think you’ve acknowledged the seriousness of this offence,” Mr Wilson said.

“You’ve got to put yourself in a position to commit this kind of offence, it’s not something that randomly pops up on your computer screen.

“I certainly do acknowledge that prior to this offending you were a person of good character, a senior corrections officer and a respected member of the community.”

Mr Wilson convicted Willis and placed him on a two-year good behaviour bond.