Vi Minh Lam: Child porn dentist’s ‘web breach’ dismissed

Just months after being convicted over a horror stash of child abuse material a Sydney dentist was back before a court after he was found using the internet at home.

A Sydney dentist who filmed women in a public bathroom and was busted with a cache of disturbing child abuse material has avoided punishment for failing to report his web activities to police.

Vi Minh Lam, 53, was convicted in July for possessing child abuse material and recording intimate images of women without consent but just a month later failed to tell cops about his internet connection at home.

Lam, as a registered offender under the child protection act, has to report a litany of his movements and activities surrounding children to police and according to court documents failed to let cops know about his internet connection.

Homebush dentist Vi Minh Lam, 53, leaving Burwood Local Court after facing charges of possessing child porn and recording intimate images without consent.

A statement of facts tendered to Burwood Local Court on Wednesday details that officers attended Lam’s Lidcombe home in August where he presented his phone which showed it was connected to Wi-Fi.

Part of his form placing him on the child protection register Lam signed had no details of an internet connection.

As part of his registration Lam has to report any changes to the form within a week of it occurring.

When quizzed by officers Lam admitted it had been connected for two weeks and it was set up by his brother on his hotspot.

He will be on the register until 2029.

Lam was first in the sights of Aussie child abuse detectives in 2019 after a tip off from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in America prompted them to Tumblr and Facebook accounts.

The AFP eventually linked them – and a phone number – to Lam, a family dentist from Lidcombe.

When they raided his home, according to court documents, they uncovered a revolting stash on his electronic devices, including images of children as young as eight being sexually abused.

Court documents state Lam is currently unable to operate his practice in Homebush West because of the charges laid in December 2020 and due to the Covid pandemic.

Magistrate Lisa Stapleton dismissed his case on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty and Lam was not convicted for breaching his obligations under the child protection act.