Yackandandah truckie Laurence Hardy jailed for child porn offences

A sicko truckie who was caught with more than 400,000 child abuse materials has had his excuse for his offending described as “farcical’’.

Truckie Laurence Hardy was nabbed with child porn. Generic/unrelated image.

A depraved truckie who was nabbed with more than 400,000 child abuse material files after joining a filthy paedophile members-only website has been jailed.

Laurence Hardy, 51, was sentenced to a minimum of three years and nine months’ jail before the County Court on Thursday, having pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to possess and access child porn.

Hardy was arrested at his Kitco Truck Depot workplace in Sunshine West on May 18 last year.

Investigators searched the fiend’s truck and seized several devices including two phones, two laptops and a portable hard drive.

Police also searched Myrtleford Storage Sheds where Hardy had stored some possessions and seized more devices.

Analysis of Hardy’s devices revealed the sicko had accessed, paid for and downloaded vile child pornography from filthy members-only paedophile site ‘Website M’.

The court heard Website M offers its deranged members access to 600,000 vile images and 400 hours of abhorrent video which can be downloaded for a fee.

Hardy spent about “$5000-$6000” downloading 37,263 vile child porn files from the sickening “commercial child exploitation” website, the court was told.

Police linked Hardy to his dirty transactions via his email, credit cards, mobile phone number and residential address.

Hardy was eventually nabbed with 410,867 child abuse material files — including material which depicted sadism, torture and child abuse — after investigators completed their analysis of the fiend’s devices.

The Yackandandah truckie told police he joined Website M after viewing sexually explicit “teaser” photos of children.

Hardy also admitted using his credit cards to purchase a few dozen “sets” of child abuse images and videos from the site multiple times during a 12-month period.

The fiend then hoarded child porn up until his arrest.

Hardy said the children depicted in the vile material were as young as five.

The court heard Hardy had said he had begun looking at child abuse material because of problems he was having with his then girlfriend.

Judge Micheal McInerney said this excuse was “farcical”, particularly considering the volume of material.

Judge McInerney said the “amazing vast number of downloaded images”, and the type of the images Hardy was caught with, stood out from other child abuse material cases.

“I don’t think in my time I’ve ever had to deal with such a vast number of images, ” the Judge said.

Judge McInerney said he was taking into Hardy’s prior good character and that he had co-operated with police and handed over his passwords to his devices.

Hardy was sentenced to a maximum of five years’ and nine months’ jail, having already served 402 days.

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