Robert John Mitchell found with thousands of child abuse images for fourth time

A Gold Coast dad is back on the streets after being caught with more than 32,000 child sexual abuse images and videos. It was the fourth time he was caught with the disturbing images.

A GOLD Coast dad is back on the streets after being caught with more than 32,000 child sexual abuse images and videos.

It is the fourth time he has been convicted in four different states in the past 21 years.

Robert John Mitchell, a father of two, claims he looks at the disturbing images when he is “stressed”.

Mitchell pleaded guilty in the Southport District court on Monday to two counts of using a carriage service to access child pornography material and one count each of possessing child exploitation material and using a carriage service to transmit child pornography material.

The 45-year-old’s Gold Coast home was raided in August last year and police found more than 32,000 child sexual abuse pictures and videos.

Some of the images were downloaded the morning police raided his home.

Mitchell had the images in his possession between May 27 and August 17, 2019. Evidence of him searching online for child abuse material was also found in May 2015.

Mitchell was first caught with child abuse images in 1999.

Some of the videos featured children as young as five being forcibly raped.

Children in the images and videos were aged between five and 16.

Mitchell has been addicted to the images and videos since he was 11 and was shown abuse pictures by a relative, the court was told.

Judge Katherine McGinness sentenced him to three years prison which was immediately suspended. Mitchell has already spent 381 days in pre-sentence custody.

He will also be on a good behaviour bond for the next two years with a number of conditions such as getting medical treatment, including for sexual arousal.

“No matter how you do it, the viewing by you is not victimless,” Judge McGinness said.

“Your conduct supports a market for others to about offending against children … manipulating them and abusing them and ruining their chances to go and have happy lives.”

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Mitchell appeared in court from prison wearing a mask and gloves to comply with the coronavirus restrictions currently in place in correctional facilities.

Crown prosecutor Jessica Guy said police from Taskforce Argos were alerted a sexual image of a young girl had been shared at Mitchell’s IP address through a peer-to-peer site in August last year.

Days later they raided his home and found the images.

He was first caught with child abuse images in Tasmania in 1999, then in Victoria in 2001 and New South Wales in 2007, Ms Guy told the court.

“He has viewed this material for a long period of time but has a condition which makes addressing his behaviour difficult,” she said.

Defence barrister Debra Wardle said Mitchell had been diagnosed with a number of disorders including paraphilia, paedophilia and borderline personality.

Mitchell ws introduced to child abuse material when he was 11-years-old, the court was told.

She said he had been able to manage his disorders with medical help for some time.

“It seems that he became really stressed when he moved to Queensland,” Ms Wardle said.

“When under stress he tends to go back to looking at that.”

Mitchell was introduced to child abuse material by a relative at age 11 and had developed an addiction to the images.

The relative abused him as a child, the court was told.

The court was told Mitchell’s offending stopped when he was married in 2010 and he had two young children.