Michaela Smithies guilty of having incestuous child abuse ‘cartoon’ images in Hamilton home
A transgender woman had thousands of images on computer hard drives ‘depicting ‘mother and son’ ‘father and daughter’ images of a sexual nature.
Newcastle
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A transgender woman has again been caught in possession of child abuse material, with police discovering thousands of “cartoons” on computer hard drives, depicting incestuous images.
Michaela Smithies who is currently in the process of transitioning into a woman, pleaded guilty to possession of child abuse material between October 2018 and 2019 at her home in Hamilton.
While in custody for an unrelated matter, police received a tip off there may be computer hard drives containing child abuse material at a Hamilton address, of which Ms Smithies was a tenant.
On October 1 last year, they searched the property and in the bedroom found six hard drives located in a storage trunk which had the inscription ‘Squadron leader Smithies’ painted on the lid.
Police uncovered a large number of ‘cartoon’ child abuse images with ‘mother and son’ ‘father and daughter’ images of a sexual nature.
In total there were nearly 10,000 images, some in folders labelled ‘comics’. There were also an additional 1886 duplicate images found.
None of the images were of real children.
Out of custody on October 4, Ms Smithies was later arrested when she was made aware of the find while having to report to Newcastle Police Station.
Police facts stated she made admissions to ownership of the images but did not make admissions to knowledge of child abuse material, stating other friends had access to the hard drive.
In a later interview with police, facts said Ms Smithies told police the images were to assist her with working out ‘in her mind’ what she was and wasn’t attracted to.
She conceded the images would be offensive to the general community and said she had planned to destroy the hard drives, however had a compulsion to hoard things.
In Newcastle Local Court on Thursday, Ms Smithies was set for sentencing as her solicitor, legal aid’s Hannah Bruce argued for leniency, citing she had suffered a difficult life and now hardship in custody as a result of being a transgender woman.
“There are some mental health issues, diagnosis of a major depressive disorder,” Ms Bruce said.
“There is that desire to undergo the surgery but (she) can’t due to financial issues. Coming to terms with her sexuality has been a struggle in her life.
“There has been hardship in custody given she identifies as a woman but is placed in a male prison.
“There have been incidence of prejudice and inappropriate comments such as “You f***ing trans slut”.
“She’s been indecently touched by people in the facility so she has been a target.”
But the prosecution listed the previous history of Ms Smithies which included being previously convicted of possessing child abuse material and failure of reporting obligations.
“It’s not a one off, look at her record, pattern of this type of behaviour is concerning to the community.” she said
“I’d consider extending her time in custody.”
But confusion over past sentences and appeals saw Magistrate Sharon Crews adjourn the matter until next week for clarification before she will be sentenced.