Simon Tiffen, of Newport, sentenced for filming child sex assault of 3-year-old boy

A man who filmed himself sexually abusing a three-year-old boy — adding the footage to his collection of 150,000 images — has learned his fate. See what happened in court.

Northern beaches groundskeeper, Simon Robert Tiffen, 64, outside the Downing Centre court building in February 2021 after appearing on charges relating to child sex abuse and possessing child abuse material. Tiffen was sentenced on Wednesday to four years jail. Picture: Toby Zerna

A man who filmed himself sexually abusing a three-year-old boy on the northern beaches — and adding it to his massive child abuse image collection — will serve at least two years and eight months behind bars.

Simon Robert Tiffen, 64, formerly of Newport, admitted to touching the boy under his shorts while they were on a ride-on lawnmower in April 2018.

Tiffen filmed the abuse, which went on for about 10 minutes, on his mobile phone while the boy rode on the mower with him at a property in Warriewood.

The groundskeeper, who had his own gardening business, also exposed his penis and touched the boy’s back.

Northern beaches man Simon Robert Tiffen leaves the Downing Centre court building in February 2021. Picture: Toby Zerna

Tiffen, who is divorced and has adult children, was also convicted of possessing more than 153,000 child abuse photos and videos, including graphic images of small children involved in sexual activity with adults.

During his sentencing decision at the Sydney District Court on Wednesday, Judge Timothy Gartelmann told Tiffen that he had assaulted a vulnerable little boy for his own sexual gratification.

“The offender exploited the opportunity that his work provided.”

Judge Gartelmann said the victim as “very young”and Tiffen was 60 years old at the time.

“This made him vulnerable to exploitation.

Simon Robert Tiffen was convicted of having 153,000 child abuse images and videos. Picture: Toby Zerna

The judge said the videos captured on Tiffen’s phone revealed that the assault was “direct, invasive and persistent”.

“This offence is a serious one of its kind,” he said.

“The recording was apparently opportunistic, but sustained, and he must have done it for sexual self gratification.”

Tiffen, now of Turramurra but who living at Newport at the time of the offending, pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault person under 16 years, two counts of possess child abuse material and one count of produce child abuse material.

According to a statement of agreed facts tendered in court, Tiffen downloaded the footage of the assault on the boy to an external computer hard drive that was found by police at his home in March 2020.

Judge Gartelmann said that when police searched Tiffen’s home, they found child abuse images and videos — a total of more than 153,000 — on hard drives and a laptop

Clinical psychologist Michael Costello told the court in June last year that several incidents that had occurred in Tiffen’s past, including being sexually abused himself as child, had caused him to become depressed.

At the sentencing hearing in December, Mr Costello said that he believed Tiffen had a pedophilic disorder.

During the sentencing hearing, Tiffen’s barrister argued that he should receive a lesser sentence because the young victim was not aware that he had been assaulted.

Simon Robert Tiffen arrives at the Downing Centre court building in June 2022. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

Tiffen’s barrister Anthony Bellanto argued that the boy was “unknowing” and had not suffered substantial psychological harm because he did not know what the offender was doing.

But Judge Gartelmann said the boy’s parents had seen evidence that he was aware of the offence and that he had been harmed by the offending, including having emotional outbursts, sleeping problems and becoming private about covering his body.

Judge Gartelmann told Tiffen that the “harm such offences cause must be recognised”.

“The offender’s conduct must be denounced and he must be held accountable and adequately punished for it,” he said.

Judge Gartelmann convicted Tiffen, who had no prior record, of all offences and passed an aggregate sentence of four years in jail, with a non-parole period of two years and eight months.