Myles Andrew Lyster: Gold Coast man emailed lewd images of theme park patrons to himself

A former Gold Coast theme park worker has walked from court despite admitting he emailed himself hundreds of lewd pictures of children and women while they enjoyed rides.

A FORMER theme park worker walked from court yesterday despite admitting he emailed himself hundreds of lewd pictures of children and women while they enjoyed rides.

The emails included upskirting images of young girls and pictures of adult women with their breasts exposed.

The photos were taken from Movie World cameras positioned near rides usually used to sell fun snaps to the public.

Myles Andrew Lyster was sprung after Movie World bosses discovered he was sending the grubby photos to himself.

When police swooped on Lyster’s Gold Coast home they also found four graphic sexual images of girls aged between six and 11.

Myles Andrew Lyster (left) leaving Southport Courthouse with barrister Jason Buckland. Picture: Lea Emery

The 49-year-old pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court yesterday to possessing child exploitation material and using a restricted computer without consent.

Crown prosecutor Jessica Guy said police found 260 compromising images and videos when they searched his home on August 9, 2018.

“The images included adult women with shirts going up on rides and 13 depicted ‘upskirt’ images of children,” she said.

Ms Guy said as a part of his job at Movie World he has access to the photos taken by cameras position on the rides which are then made available for sale to the public.

Accidentally explicit images are not sold.

The theme park went to police when they discovered Lyster has been forwarded photos of women and children in compromising positions to himself.

“It was a breach of trust not only with the employers but also the public and the patrons at the theme park,” Ms said.

The dates the photos and videos were taken are not known as a full brief was not prepared as Lyster indicated at an early stage he was going to plead guilty.

Myles Andrew Lyster was fired after Movie World discovered he was emailing explicit images to himself. Picture: Myles Lyster Facebook

Lyster’s Linked In page claims he started work at the theme park in 2005.

He was sacked from his job as a computer photo operator at Movie World and has been unemployed ever since.

Ms Guy told the court that during the search Lyster told police they would find a USB containing four child abuse images of girls.

“The crime is not a victimless one and it has been repeatedly said it supports an industry which takes advantage of vulnerable children,” she said.

Judge Katherine McGinness sentenced Lyster to six months prison which was wholly suspended. He was also placed on two years probation.

Lyster had no previous criminal history.

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Myles Andrew Lyster was sentenced to six months prison which was wholly suspended. Picture: Lea Emery

“The thing that concerns me is that he has done nothing to get assistance since the time he has been charged,” Judge McGinness said.

Lyster was ordered to undergo medical and psychological treatment as needed.

He will not be placed on a sexual offenders register as no conviction was recorded for the child exploitation material.

Defence barrister Jason Buckland, instructed by Bamberry Lawyers, said Lyster suffered from bipolar and had a history of depression.

In a statement outside court, Village Roadshow Theme Parks chief operating officer Bikash Randhawa said police were immediately called when it was discovered the images had been forwarded.

“Movie World is saddened by this isolated incident and have worked closely with the on-ride photography provider to further strengthen our procedures and processes,” he said.

Mr Randhawa declined to say what those processes were for security reasons.

He said the incident was isolated.

Village Roadshow said criminal history checks were conducted of employees.