Collin Lunson: Altona child abuse criminal to be jailed over ‘truly sickening’ online discovery

Altona child abuse criminal Collin Lunson will be the first person jailed under laws championed by Christian Porter.

A “sad, lonely middle aged man” caught for a second time with a “truly sickening” haul of online child abuse material will be the first person to be jailed under strict new Australian laws, a court has heard.

Registered sex offender Collin Lunson, of Altona, faced the County Court on Wednesday, where he pleaded guilty to possessing more than 4000 files of child abuse material, which Judge Paul Lacava branded as “truly sickening”.

Lunson’s lawyer, David Rofe, said his client was a “sad, lonely middle aged man” who would now be jailed for a mandatory minimum of four years under mandatory sentencing laws for repeat child abuse material offenders.

Christian Porter pushed for stronger jail penalties for paedophiles before stepping aside as Attorney-General.

The laws came into effect in June last year, less than two months before police raided Lunson’s house, acting on a tip-off from New Zealand authorities that he was using an encrypted cloud storage service to keep a collection of child abuse material.

The laws were championed by former Attorney-General Christian Porter, who previously said the law needed to come down harder on child sex offenders and the “devastating and lifelong impacts that their crimes have on their young victims and their families”.

In court on Wednesday, Commonwealth Prosecutor Krista Breckweg said Lunson would likely be the first offender jailed under the new laws.

The court heard Lunson refused to come to the door of his Altona home for more than two hours when police came knocking on August last year.

Collin Lunson, a registered sex offender, had a series of undisclosed internet addresses and online identities (file photo)

Lunson had been on the child sex offender’s register since 2017, when he previously admitted to accessing and possessing child pornography.

The raid, and police analysis of his computers and phones, uncovered eight email addresses and online identities which he had not told police of, and a small amount of methamphetamine.

Mr Rofe said Lunson committed his first spate of child abuse material offending after a relationship breakdown, and a psychiatrist had found him to not be a sexual deviant.

“He has told his children now as to why he’s in custody, that’s in contrast to last time when he didn’t tell anyone,” he said.

Judge Lacava will sentence Lunson at a later date.