Daniel James Knuth in Townsville court on fresh child exploitation material charge

The convicted child sexual offender son of a North Queensland MP has been hauled back to court after a fresh child abuse image charge was levelled against him.

Daniel Knuth, son of Hill MP Shane Knuth, at Townsville Court on a previous occasion. Picture: Evan Morgan

The convicted child sexual offender son of a North Queensland MP has been hauled back to court after a fresh child abuse image charge was levelled against him.

Daniel James Knuth, the son of Katter’s Australian Party MP for Hill Shane Knuth, was not present for the first mention of his newest charge in Townsville Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

He has been charged with a single count of possessing child exploitation material.

In court, the matter was briefly mentioned before it was adjourned to a later date for a duty lawyer to be present.

Hill MP Shane Knuth (right) and his son Daniel James Knuth (left in circle).

Knuth is currently on remand for charges stemming back to 2021, when police allegedly found child exploitation material on his phone during a routine compliance check of his devices.

He was to be sentenced in the District Court last week on counts of failing to comply with reporting, and possessing child exploitation material.

But on that date, his lawyer told the court a fresh charge was set to be levelled against Knuth, after police allegedly found further child exploitation material on a second device.

The court was also told there had been a 13-month delay in police downloading the device for examination.

Concerns were raised on the amount of time Knuth had since spent in custody, roughly 14 months.

He was previously convicted, but avoided spending time behind bars in 2019, after he was sentenced over 35 child sexual abuse offences including using a fake internet profile in an attempt to procure a child, as well as tricking young girls into sending him intimate photographs.

During his offending between October 2016 and September 2017, Knuth engaged in sexually explicit conversations with 27 child victims.

Knuth was remanded in custody and his appearance at the next mention was excused.

Originally published as Daniel James Knuth in Townsville court on fresh child exploitation material charge