Brad Spencer: Perth photographer dad jailed for Ballarat child sex crimes

A fiend who violated a young boy before enjoying life as a stay-at-home Perth dad has flown back to Victoria to cop his just desserts.

Brad Spencer pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child under 16.

A stay-at-home Perth dad who sexually penetrated a young Victorian boy has been jailed.

Brad Spencer, 28, was sentenced in the County Court on Tuesday to seven months’ jail after pleading guilty to multiple counts of sexual penetration and indecent acts with a child under 16.

Spencer started offending when his victim was aged 10, the court heard.

He kicked off his lewd conduct by telling the boy he wanted to play a game of “truth or dare”.

The court was told Spencer violated and sexually abused the child multiple times, “every chance he could”.

Spencer also showed the boy how to masturbate and made the victim perform lewd acts.

The court was told the boy “complied” because he was “ashamed”.

Spencer treated his victim as an “object” for his “sexual gratification”, the court heard.

The offending ended when Spencer moved to Perth.

Spencer, who was interviewed in Western Australia in 2018, admitted to police he committed lewd acts with the boy.

Spencer, who sobbed and looked visibly distressed throughout the hearing, told police he “felt embarrassed” but “never felt shame until now”.

He claimed he didn’t remember penetrating his victim.

The victim and the victim’s mother read their impact statements to the court.

The victim’s mother told the court she thought she had “failed as a mother”.

“Our family fell apart … I was terrified he was going to take his own life,” she said.

The court heard Spencer is a photographer and stay-at-home dad who lives with his partner in the Perth suburb of Hammond Park.

The defence submitted Spencer should get a suspended jail sentence but the prosecution submitted he should serve an immediate prison term.

Judge Damian Murphy warned Spencer during the plea hearing, where the fiend appeared via videolink from WA, that he would need to return to Victoria for sentencing and “bring his toothbrush”.

However, Judge Murphy accepted Spencer was not a threat to community safety.

Spencer was sentenced to two years and nine months’ jail but two years and two months of the term will be suspended for three years.

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