Warren John Kemp: ‘Hypersexualised’ ex ambo avoids jail for child abuse material crimes

A drug causing “hypersexuality” was an “important factor” in a former ambo possessing and distributing shocking child abuse material and taking creepy photos of a woman he knew.

An ex-paramedic has been spared being locked up for a string of vile child sexual abuse material crimes due to his medication leading to “hypersexuality”.

Warren John Kemp previously pleaded guilty to four of the “worst types of charges” in possessing child abuse material; disseminating child abuse material, intentionally recording intimate images without consent; and two counts of intentionally distributing intimate images without consent.

The 64-year-old man, who lives in the northern Illawarra suburb of Bulli, was supported by his daughter and son-in-law in Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday when Magistrate Robert Walker sentenced him to a two-year intensive corrections order.

The horrendous offending occurred during the first half of 2021 with Kemp using messaging services Viber and Kik to send and receive the child exploitation material.

In March, Kemp sent 58 videos and two images via Viber to a person, saying “She loves it. What do you think about the one asleep?”.

In the same month, Kemp, a married father, used Kik to send a different person a picture of a naked woman known to him.

Days after sending the image, Kemp sent another picture of the female.

Bulli local and former paramedic Warren John Kemp leaving Wollongong Courthouse. Picture: Dylan Arvela

Court documents revealed Kemp used a pen camera, which he referred to as ‘007’ in message exchanges, to take images of his victims.

Police found an image on Kemp’s phone of a sex act where the face of a woman known to him was pasted on to the body of an unknown woman and his was put on to an image of a man.

Kemp was arrested on Friday, May 21 and he handed over his Samsung Galaxy S10 as well as his passcode.

Officers asked if he had any child abuse material on the device and he replied “Yeah, there may be some” but denied distributing the material.

In an interview with officers at the Wollongong police station, Kemp said the child abuse imagery “just appeared there one day”.

Kemp told police he thought the children depicted in the videos were “seven or eight”, that he had received the material halfway through 2020 and that he should have reported them.

Kemp, who went to school in the Sutherland Shire and spent a portion of his working life in the Shoalhaven, denied he felt sexual gratification from the material, that he actively looked for the material and that he knowingly sent the material.

“I get up in the hut back up there and hit the wine bottle,” he said when telling police he didn’t recall sending the child abuse material.

Warren John Kemp’s backyard hut.

He said he was in chat groups for a “very short time” and that he “clicked on images just out of curiosity”.

Police found a total of 49 videos and 39 images on his phone as well as another image on his Samsung Galaxy tablet.

The court on Wednesday heard Kemp, who suffers from PTSD and Parkinson‘s disease, had been taking medication for the latter for two years prior to the offending.

An expert report was prepared for the court with Kemp‘s lawyer Matthew Ward highlighting a side effect of the drug Sifrol was “hypersexuality” with Magistrate Walker indicating it ”caused people to do things outside their personality”.

“It‘s some of the worst types of offences you can have,” the magistrate said.

“At first blush I was of the view a full-time custodial sentence was required, but having viewed all the documentation on file it has assisted me in determining what I will do with this.

Warren John Kemp was sentenced to a two-year ICO.

“Sifrol is a pretty important factor which led to this offending … which was inexcusable I must say.”

Magistrate Walker said he considered sending Kemp to prison for a short period of time, potentially three months, however, was of the view he required a to be under the watch of community corrections for significantly longer.

The ICO will run concurrently with a two-year community corrections order which will expire in August, 2024.

Kemp will be required to continue with his treatment plan and accept all supervision from community corrections.

Two apprehended violence orders relating to a victim and a minor known to the victim were extended for a period of two and five years respectively.