Paul Arthur Hunt sentenced in Taree court for disseminating child abuse material

A disgraced Mid-North Coast high school teacher and former radio host bowed his head as he learnt his fate for disseminating child abuse material.

Mid North Coast radio host and teacher Paul Hunt is facing charges of possessing and sending child abuse material. Picture: Facebook.

Shocking details have emerged about disgraced Taree high school teacher and former radio host Paul Arthur Hunt – who used the handle ‘fertilemind2’ on an encrypted message app to disseminate child abuse material.

Hunt had previously pleaded guilty to disseminating child abuse material and was sentenced by Magistrate Allison Hawkins in Taree Local Court on Monday, April 17.

His lawyer told the court Hunt, who was teaching English at Wingham High School at the time of the offending, lost his father to cancer at the age of 21.

Not long after that his mother was diagnosed with dementia leaving him without any parental figures in his life, the court heard.

Interest in incest

The 57-year-old has been in custody since the night of his arrest on November 19 last year when, according to documents submitted to court, he admitted to developing an interest in child abuse material depicting young children and sexual activity between adult parents and their young children over the last few years.

Mid North Coast radio host and teacher Paul Hunt is facing charges of possessing and sending child abuse material. Picture: Facebook.

The police search of his Tinonee home was triggered by a tip off a few days prior.

It began around 9.40pm with police seizing phones, laptops and a USB and just before 11pm Hunt leaned over to an officer and asked: “Can I tell you something?”.

During sentencing his lawyer told the court these “frank admissions” should be considered.

Hunt admitted to using the handle ‘fertilemind2’ to communicate with a woman known as ‘pervertedmeme’.

During the search Hunt told police he had stopped communication with ‘pervertedmeme’ in the last few weeks but according to the informant it was continuing up until the days before his arrest.

According to documents tendered to court Hunt sent four images of a realistic animation depicting a young girl being forced to perform sex acts on an adult male with ‘pervertedmeme’ replying “very hot”

Hunt replied “not as hot as the real thing”.

According to the Australian Child Abuse Categorisation Schema (ACACS) the four images are classed as category 2 - very lifelike, clearly depicting young children between six and 10.

Used app to automatically delete images

Hunt used a pornographic website to generate the lifelike images of young girls being forced to engage in sexual activities with adults, according to documents tendered to court.

The images were sent via the WickrMe app where users can set the messages to be deleted after a certain time.

Paul Hunt. Picture: Facebook.

The police prosecutor said the use of this app showed that Hunt was actively seeking to conceal his offending and that conversations with the other person revolved around the potential of future offending.

His lawyer told the court the images were anime and as such there was no “actual victim”.

The charge he was facing related to five images, a “relatively low number” in this kind of offending his lawyer told the court.

Ms Hawkins said the images were “very high quality” and that, as an “educated man”, Hunt would realise the community would find the offending “abhorrent”.

She said there was a level of planning and described the behaviour as “insidious”.

Relationships damaged ‘beyond repair’

Hunt’s lawyer told the court his client was unlikely to ever teach again and that he no longer had a relationship with his two adult children.

Paul Hunt was a member of the Tinonee RFS. Picture: Facebook

He had been in a six-year relationship prior to his arrest and this was also over, his lawyer told the court.

Going by the name ‘The Slunter’, Hunt presented the weekly music show Terra Australis and Ship of Fools on 2 BOB community radio for many years.

He has performed with local musicians and been an MC for a number of local events including the annual EnviroFair at Taree.

Hunt was featured in a Wingham High School newsletter in term three of 2020 following the devastating fire season of 2019/2020 and he had recently completed his bushfire assessment and joined the Tinonee Rural Fire Service brigade.

Many of these community connections have been damaged “beyond repair” his lawyer told the court saying this was a form of “extra-curial punishment” and should be taken into consideration during sentencing.

Hunt was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 12 months back dated to when he was remanded in custody on November 20.

He was given a non-parole period of seven months meaning he will be eligible for release on June 19 this year.

Hunt had also pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited drug - a small amount of cannabis. He was convicted for this but no penalty imposed.