Seymour’s Mark Vinden sentenced for sexually assaulting child

A Seymour factory worker who sexually assaulted a young girl while she was playing PlayStation was later busted with a stash of child abuse material.

Seymour’s Mark Andrew Vinden was sentenced for sexually assaulting a child under the age of 16 and for accessing and possessing child abuse material.

A “depraved” former Nestle factory worker who sexually assaulted a child while she was playing a video game was later busted with a stash of child abuse material.

Mark Andrew Vinden, 53, was jailed three years and nine months for sexually assaulting a child under the age of 16 and for accessing and possessing child abuse material obtained via a carriage service.

Vinden, of Seymour, also pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm.

On March 24, 2022, Vinden and the girl played PlayStation together, with Vinden sitting on the couch while his victim was on a recliner chair.

Vinden then approached the young girl on the chair, put his hands down her school dress and began to rub the outside of her vagina.

The girl asked Vinden to stop, which he did, before she went home to her mother in a state of shock.

Mark Andrew Vinden touched a young girl while they played video games.

The incident was reported to police the following day and Vinden was arrested and denied any sexual contact in a police interview.

DNA testing found that Vinden’s DNA could not be excluded from the victim’s underwear.

Vinden also came to the attention of police through an investigation into the encrypted cloud storage website mega.nz, a site commonly used among sex offenders to transmit child abuse material.

The court heard Vinden accessed 449 child abuse material files, including videos as long as 41 minutes between April 24, 2023 and May 10, 2023.

On May 10, 2023, police executed a search warrant at Vinden’s address in relation to the child abuse material.

Vinden accessed 449 child abuse material files.

“I consider this offending (sexually assaulting the child) to be aggravated by the Commonwealth (child abuse material) charges,” Judge Robyn Harper said.

Judge Harper said the child abuse material Vinden had watched was “depraved, abhorrent and appalling”.

Judge Harper said she had “no alternative” but to sentence Vinden to a term of imprisonment.

The court heard Vinden suffered from health issues at a young age, and at the age of 12 discovered he had limited vision in one eye.

The court heard Vinden worked at the Nestle Factory in Broadford for 30 years and that he had a child with a woman he was once engaged to.

The court heard Vinden last worked a casual job at a winery, and lost his job when a local newspaper published a photo of him being arrested by police.

Vinden’s imitation firearm that police seized.

Vinden, who grew up in Broadford and Seymour, will have to serve at least two years and six months in prison before being eligible for parole.

Vinden was fined $1000 for possessing the imitation firearm.

Vinden must undergo rehabilitation and report to the Shepparton Community Corrections office upon his release.

Vinden has served 17 days in prison.