Shaun Dregmans: Willoughby man caught with child abuse video, Operation Arkstone
A court has heard how a Grindr hook-up led a well-educated man into the vile dark web network of child abuse videos after he was busted in a dawn raid.
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A hospitality worker messaged “that’s so hot” when asked if he likes bestiality and child abuse videos, a court has heard.
Shaun Dregmans, 32, has pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse material after a dawn raid on his north shore home linked him to the country’s largest child sex abuse network.
The court heard Dregmans received a video of child abuse material after meeting up with a man on Grindr last January.
Dregmans told the court he started messaging the man on WhatsApp after they first met up in Chatswood.
When the man messaged about how he likes to perve, Dregmans responded “that’s so hot.”
Dregmans was then asked if he wanted to watch incest, bestiality and child abuse videos with the man, to which he replied: “I was hoping you’d say that.”
Evidence of this conversation, tendered to the court, revealed Dregmans told the man: “I’ve never watched (child abuse videos) but have always wanted to … I’d be too scared to search it.”
When questioned by the defence barrister, Mr Riyad El-Choufani, Dregmans said he felt “totally repulsed … really disappointed with what I said.”
Reading through the conversation, Dregmans said he felt “nauseous” because “it’s not who I am … it’s not a representation of who I am”.
Mr El-Choufani claimed Dregmans’ messages were not evidence of an underlying desire to watch child abuse videos.
Instead, he argued Dregmans “feigned interest” because his intention to continue meeting up with the man from Grindr had “clouded his judgment.”
In court, Dregmans admitted to watching a child abuse video once with the Grindr hook-up and said he never deleted it because he received many videos and messages from people he talks with online.
Judge Alister Abadee questioned this, asking why Dregmans didn’t immediately delete the video, which he described as “repulsive”.
“If it’s so repulsive … he understands full well the (importance) of what he’s seen, then he somehow forgets about it,” Judge Abadee said.
“If he sees the content of the video is repulsive, wouldn’t the natural thing to do then be to delete it.”
Prosecutor John Fennel also questioned Dregmans claim he was only feigning interest in child abuse material because he wanted to continue meeting up with this man.
However, both Mr Fennel and Mr El-Choufani agreed Dregmans crime was far from the worst example of offences of this type, stating it was towards the lower end of the spectrum.
Judge Abadee also noted this was the only example of child abuse material police found when they executed their search warrant.
“There’s been nothing else before and there’s been nothing else after (the arrest),” he said.
Dregmans was arrested by the Australian Federal Police last March as part of Operation Arkstone — Australia’s largest crackdown on child abuse material.
He pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child abuse material.
Judge Abadee reserved his judgment. Dregmans will return to court for sentencing on March 11 of this year.
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