Cattle farmer Edward Gundry admits to possessing child abuse materials

The cattle farmer, 38, was busted by the FBI for buying almost 20,000 images from an illegal child sex abuse website.

Gundry told the court he “felt immense shame” after accessing thousands of child sex abuse images.

On the outside Ed Gundry was a typical, tough, true-blue, NSW cattle farmer.

But the Tarago man was living a secret life behind closed doors, struggling to accept his male gender and pedophilic urges, the Darlinghurst District Court heard on Friday.

The 38-year-old was forced to come clean, the court was told, after being outed by the FBI for buying almost 20,000 images of mostly pre-pubescent girls from an illegal child sex abuse website.

Edward Robert Gundry, (white shirt), leaves court with family members on Friday. Picture: John Grainger

He pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse material and using a carriage service to access the images over a two-year period.

The court was told Gundry said at a previous hearing in his evidence: “I stopped on occasions. I tried to delete material off my computer. I felt immense shame in hiding it from my family.”

Gundry suffers distress from identifying with a different gender than the one he was born with.

He stored the material on USB devices wrapping them with blue electrical tape which he hid in a cupboard, the court was told.

But he did little to adequately cover his tracks, using his own name to register to the website, the court heard.

Gundry was arrested by the Australian Federal Police and held in custody on remand for three months before he was released on bail.

He was supported in court on Friday by his mother, brother and other family members who cried and consoled each other.

Gundry’s Barrister, Hugh White, told the court his client saw a psychologist regularly and was living with his “supportive” mother on a farm.

He said his client suffered from gender dysphoria, which is when a person suffers distress due to identifying with a different gender than the one they were born with.

He accessed thousands of child sex abuse images.

The court heard Gundry suffered paedophilia, depression and was concerned he would suicide if he was sent back to jail.

“He tried to manage on his own all his life up until he was charged. (His family) have supported him 100 per cent. That has made an enormous difference to his life,” Mr White told the court.

The matter was adjourned until May for further sentencing submissions to be made.

It is due to be finalised at the next appearance.