Downing Centre Local Court suppresses identity of former senior bureaucrat after child sex offence guilty plea

A former senior Sydney bureaucrat has successfully fought to conceal his identity after authorities found child abuse material on his phone upon his return to the country. Here’s what happened in court.

The former senior bureaucrat leaving Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday.

A former senior Sydney bureaucrat has successfully fought to conceal his identity on mental health grounds after authorities found child abuse material on his phone.

The man, who once held a senior position in the NSW government, faced Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to one count of possessing or controlling child abuse material after he was stopped by authorities upon his arrival back into Sydney last year.

Magistrate Jennifer Price said the man had arrived on a flight from overseas when child abuse material was located on his phone, but he was only cautioned at the time and not arrested.

He later received a future court attendance notice in the mail, only making his first appearance on Tuesday.

The man’s barrister, Slade Howell, formally entered the guilty plea and sought a non-publication order to protect the identity of his client on “grounds of mental health harm”.

The Downing Centre Local Court. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

The court heard the former bureaucrat had been admitted to hospital twice last year after two suicide attempts.

Mr Howell said he was seeking to conceal any information which revealed his client’s identity, “but not otherwise restricting the publication of the matter”.

He told the court his client had suffered a “significant and serious decline” in his mental wellbeing as a result of the court proceedings and argued any public reporting would “substantially” heighten imminent and prospective harm.

Nine Entertainment’s executive counsel, Larina Alick, argued against the order, saying there was “no link between news coverage and the defendant’s mental health” and any belief about the impacts of publication was “purely speculative”.

She questioned why the former senior bureaucrat should be treated any different to other people, who faced similar charges in court and were unable to hide their identities.

However, Mr Howell doubled down on the potential impact to his client.

“If there is public reporting … the prospect that this man will harm himself … would be more than regrettable,” he said.

In granting the non-publication order, Ms Price acknowledged the man’s mental health struggles and him accepting the role pornography played in his first attempt to take his own life.

She found there was a potential link between media reporting and the offender’s mental health, which could be “exacerbated” as a result.

The man was audibly emotional in court as Ms Price read out her decision.

He is now set to face sentencing in the NSW District Court in the near future.