David Andrew Marshall tells court he ‘inadvertently’ downloaded child abuse material

This man was found with more than 70 files of child abuse material but says he was just downloading adult porn and had “inadvertently” obtained the rest, a court has heard.

David Andrew Marshall has pleaded guilty to possessing child exploitation material.

A man living in a caravan who was busted by elite detectives with more than 70 files of child abuse material says he only meant to download some of the images, and had “inadvertently” obtained the rest, a court has heard.

On Tuesday, David Andrew Marshall, 30 of Seaton, faced the District Court after pleading guilty to one count of possessing child exploitation material.

The court previously heard Marshall had come across the files on social media while downloading adult pornography, but denied he had gone out of his way to download the child abuse material specifically.

Both prosecution and defence counsel for Marshall told Judge Ian Press that they had agreed on several facts since his last hearing – one being that some of the material he downloaded he had done so “inadvertently.”

David Marshall leaving the District Court. Picture Dean Martin

He pleaded guilty to possessing child exploitation material.

“I can advise there is an agreed factual basis, that being that the defendant was in possession of all of the material,” the prosecutor told the court.

“Some of the material was downloaded inadvertently, but some was deliberately downloaded.”

Marshall was arrested from his caravan home in November last year by detectives from the elite Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team.

The court previously heard he had originally been charged with possessing more than 160 files of child abuse material, which was then reduced to 77 when Marshall pleaded guilty.

He told officers that he’d seen some “questionable things,” but that he’d just put it “aside, out of sight, out of mind” – but never deleted them.

Tim Dibden, for Marshall, on Tuesday said his client’s offending was on the “lower end of the severity”, and should not result in a prison sentence.

Marshall’s lawyer said his offending was “on the lower end of severity”. Picture: Dean Martin

Prosecution counsel said Marshall should be immediately jailed.

“The child exploitation material was found in the defendant’s possession,” the prosecutor said.

“The material is predominantly categorised as Category 1 material, which is children under the age of 13.

“Some of the material falls at the severe end of the scale of objective seriousness. It involves children as young as infants and toddlers who were subjected to the most reprehensible acts.”

Marshall is facing a maximum 12 year prison sentence, but is eligible for a 15 per cent discount on any penalty due to his early guilty plea.

Judge Ian Press will sentence Marshall at a later date.

Originally published as David Andrew Marshall tells court he ‘inadvertently’ downloaded child abuse material