Jonathan Mumford, Caringbah: Sentenced for horrific child abuse material hoard

A man caught with a horrific and extensive hoard of child abuse material, totalling almost 10,000 images, after an AFP tip-off has been sentenced. WARNING: Graphic content.

A horrific trove of child abuse material, totalling almost 10,000 images stored on a hard drive and mobile phone, was uncovered after an upload was made to a Google-linked website.

A tip-off from the Australian Federal Police led to a morning raid of Jonathan Mumford’s Caringbah unit, which he shared with his father, leading to the shock discovery.

Three pairs of children’s underwear was located in the 36-year-old’s bedroom, documents tendered to Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday revealed.

The horrifying imagery seized included children, aged from babies to 14-year-old teenagers, being forced into in a range of sexual acts with both adults and fellow minors. There were also pictures of seemingly drugged and sleeping naked children, court documents noted.

The court also heard he shared certain images with his partner over WhatsApp.

Picture taken of the police raid on Mumford's home in Caringbah in September 2021. The man pictured alongside police is another tenant of the building.

One video showed a German toddler being abused by an unidentified male who committed a multitude of sexual acts while the baby was asleep. The longest video totalled 26 minutes.

He first downloaded the child abuse material from the dark web back in 2016. He told detectives he was “sometimes aroused” at the images, “viewing it maybe every two weeks”.

(Generic image) Imagery of one-year-old children were found in Mumford’s hard drive.

Mumford was sentenced at Downing Centre Local Court to one count of disseminating child abuse material and two counts of possession. He pleaded guilty to all three charges, with his solicitor telling Magistrate Alison Viney that Mumford had “overwhelming depression all his life” and a “traumatic upbringing”.

“He’s ashamed about what he’s done, he’s ashamed about what he is,” he said.

A recent medical report indicated Mumford, who has been in custody since his arrest last September, has clinical depression and PTSD.

The magistrate said people like Mumford who download child abuse facilitate the market and production of it.

Downing Centre Local Court, where Mumford was sentenced. Picture: Nikki Short

“These are really disturbing matters and these people (the material creators) prey on the most vulnerable members of our community,” she said.

“You effectively dehumanised these children.”

Mumford was handed an aggregate sentence of 30 months in custody, with a non-parole period of 18 months, backdated to September 27, 2021.