Thomastown husband David Jonathon Legge, 37 sentenced in County Court to possessing and transmitting child abuse material

A depraved Thomastown husband found with more than a thousand child abuse material files boasted about his “evil and gross” fantasies of raping boys in group chats.

37-year-old Thomastown husband, David Jonathon Legge was sentenced in the Victorian County Court to two and a half years imprisonment for possessing and sharing child abuse material.

A depraved Melbourne husband found with more than a thousand child abuse material files boasted about his “evil and gross” fantasies of raping boys in group chats.

David Jonathon Legge was sentenced in the County Courton Wednesday to possessing and using a carriage service to transmit and make available child abuse material.

During a search of his Thomastown home in July, the then 36-year-old admitted to police that he looked at child abuse material that morning and there would be material stored on his Proton Drive.

David Jonathon Legge was sentenced in the Victorian County Court via videolink on Wednesday.

A review of his devices found that in total, Legge possessed 1203 files and accessed 1697 files of child abuse material.

A sample of the content included videos of naked boys, from infants to 16 years of age, performing sex acts and being penetrated.

Further analysis of his devices revealed that between January and July, he used two different social media applications, namely Signal and Telegram, to transmit and make available child abuse material.

During an interview at Epping police station, following his arrest, he said he was previously the admin of an online group where people would request content that he would pass on.

“I had so much … it was almost like an Encarta worth of stuff … it varied from, like, really young toddlers to, like, seventeen and a half,” he told police.

He admitted to police that he knew the material was “so vile and wrong” and that it should never see the light of day but that he was “conflicted” because it took him back to when he was younger.

The court heard that during questioning he expressed his heartfelt contrition to police.

Legge pleaded guilty to possessing and transmitting child abuse material at the County Court in February.

He revealed he was in groups that would upload child porn that he would view and determine if it was good for his “stash”.

He made admissions to creating a group chat titled ‘Friends’ with two other members to share child abuse material where he would provide commentary with the links such as “what good bois (sic)” and “this is us three with our son”.

During her sentencing remarks, Judge Gabriele Cannon referred to the chats as “repugnant, gross and evil” fantasies.

Judge Cannon said he did little in the way of “covering his tracks” and co-operated with police by providing passwords to devices and drives that held the “utterly depraved and repugnant” material.

The court heard the 37-year-old acted as an admin in group chats where people would request child abuse material that he would transmit.

The court heard Legge grew up in rural NSW where his parents separated at a young age and he witnessed alcohol abuse and violence in the home.

He did not finish school and was bullied because of his homosexuality.

During the previous plea hearing, his husband provided evidence that he would be supported by family and friends and motivated towards rehabilitation.

Legge suffered from a bulging disc in his back, chronic eczema, anxiety, and depression which his counsel said required careful monitoring in custody to avoid self-harm.

Judge Cannon said his prospects of rehabilitation were good because he had good family support and had engaged with counselling and support.

Legge was convicted on both charges and sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment.

He is expected to be released on parole after 10 months and must pay a $5000 bond to be of good behaviour for four years.

He was placed on a sex offender register for 15 years.