71-year-old man in custody for possession of ‘serious instance’ of child exploitation material

A man has been taken into custody for the possession of child exploitation material described as “one of the most serious instances that can be dealt with”. DISTRESSING CONTENT

The Launceston Magistrates Court, located on the corner of Charles Street and Cimitiere Street, Launceston. Picture: Stephanie Dalton

A 71-year-old West Launceston man has been taken into custody after he pleaded guilty to indecent material charges which included hours long videos and children as young as four.

At Launceston Magistrates Court on Monday, Michael Thomas pleaded guilty to one charge of possession of child exploitation material and one charge of possession of bestiality product.

As a registered offender, Thomas’ residence was compliance checked by authorised officers on January 24 in 2024.

Thomas has previous convictions in 2018 and 2023 for possessing child exploitation materials.

Thomas lives in a rental property with one of his daughters and her partner.

In his room, officers found a hard drive attached to a running computer. The hard drive was found to contain images and video of torture, rape and depravity of adults and of children.

Some USB drives where confiscated and also examined, one was found to contain child exploitation and bestiality product.

A West Launceston man has been sentenced over the possession of child exploitation material. Picture: iStock

There were 17 files found in total, five files containing bestiality and other child exploitation materials.

The length of some of these videos were as long as two hours, including children performing sexual acts from ages as young as four.

The bestiality material only depicted adults and the court heard it was only animated and did not depict real people or animals.

Crown prosecutor Anna Hogan said while the number of files was low, the length of some of the content increased the gravity.

Ms Hogan said despite imprisonment, Thomas had no indication of changing his behaviour.

“This is one of the most serious instances that can be dealt with in this jurisdiction,” she said.

Thomas’ defence lawyer, Jade Tonkin, attempted to submit Thomas had downloaded the materials only to be “incredibly disturbed” by the material and deleted them.

She said Thomas was shocked when officers found the exploitation material on his hard drive.

Ms Tonkin claimed Thomas hadn’t even watched through the material.

She claimed since Thomas began therapy in 2022, he had learned he was addicted to the material and addressing underlying issues.

“Thomas made an error in accessing those materials,” she said.

Ms Tonkin also submitted Thomas had “developed disgust” of the materials.

Through therapy, Thomas knew the materials were not a “harmless or victimless” crime, his lawyer said to the court.

She did submit, Thomas had downloaded the materials for his own sexual gratification.

The crown did not accept the submission Thomas was not likely to reoffend or the notion he was “shocked” and had realised the errors of his ways.

Magistrate Ken Stanton also queried some things like the date the material was downloaded which Ms Tonkin said was on a day his daughter was away on a day trip and he was home alone.

A hearing over disputed facts has been scheduled for August 12.

Thomas was taken into custody on remand.

Originally published as 71-year-old man in custody for possession of ‘serious instance’ of child exploitation material