Daniel Alberto Merlos Torres: Reportable offender busted with child abuse material

NAMED: A registered child sex offender was caught with dozens of child abuse files less than a year after walking free from court.

A registered child sex offender was caught with dozens of files of child abuse material less than a year after he was last before the courts.

Police raided Daniel Alberto Merlos Torres’ home in December, 2021, and seized his mobile phone and tablet.

Southport District Court was told both devices contained child exploitation material, including images and videos showing children aged between five and 10 involved in sexual acts.

Merlos Torres told officers he had accessed the files online and saved them to his devices.

He spent just over one day in custody following his arrest.

The 27-year-old was convicted of indecent treatment of a child under 12 in the Southport court in November, 2020 and was sentenced to nine months’ jail, wholly suspended for two years.

It was while he was under this suspended jail term that he downloaded the child abuse files.

The court was told Merlos Torres became a “reportable offender” after his last conviction, and then failed on three occasions to notify police about personal social media accounts as required.

Defence solicitor Ali Rana said his client had been diagnosed with autism and still had hope of rehabilitation, despite reoffending while under a suspended jail sentence.

Merlos Torres was supported by his mother and other family members in court, who were visibly emotional as they watched the proceedings.

Judge Suzanne Sheridan told the man that she was prioritising protecting the community in sentencing him to actual time behind bars.

“These are not victimless crimes – your actions enable offending against vulnerable young children,” she said.

“Really I would expect from a young offender that he would go and get some treatment.

“He promised that he would get some treatment, and he didn’t, and then he reoffended.”

Merlos Torres pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing child exploitation material and three counts of failing to comply with reporting conditions.

He was sentenced to 18 months’ jail and must serve the remainder of his suspended sentence. He will be eligible for parole on February 2, 2023.