41-year-old man pleads guilty to indecent treatment under age of 16 and making child exploitation material at Cairns District Court

A 41-year-old man exposed a 12-year-old girl while she was sleeping then filmed her on a video that around 4000 people saw online, a court heard.

A 41-year-old Far North man exposed a 12-year-old girl while she was sleeping then filmed her on a video which ended up online allowing 4000 people to see it, a court heard.

The defendant, who could not be named as it would identify his victims, pleaded guilty to one count of indecent treatment under the age of 16 and one count of making child exploitation material in Cairns District Court on Wednesday.

Prosecutor Jessica Eagle-Rowe said the complainant was his partner’s younger sister who was asleep while visiting on the school holidays.

“Your Honour would note there was a breach of trust and there is a significant age difference,” she said.

“Taking the mobile phone into the bedroom and filming the offending. In my submission the filming of the offending compounds the significance of it.”

A man pleaded guilty to one count of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 16.

Ms Eagle-Rowe said the offending came to light because the video turned up on a website and when police were made aware, it had in excess of 4000 views.

The court heard he pulled the leg of her shorts aside then pulled her underwear before exposing her vagina and filming it for one minute and 12 seconds.

“She has been significantly affected by the offending,” she said.

“It was clearly a breach of trust and she uses her own words, it has affected her relationships, her family and her schooling.”

Ms Eagle-Rowe said a psychological report showed he had a paraphiliac interest in pubescent girls and lacked self control.

“He is at a moderate to high risk to act on his desire again if given the opportunity,” she said.

Defence barrister Tim Grau said when his client read the impact statement and was regretful.

“He was very remorseful and recognised the mistake he made and the impact it had on the complainant,” he said.

The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of making child exploitation material. Picture: Brendan Radke

Mr Grau detailed his horrific childhood being sexually abused at 13.

“He had been battling these demons on his own,” he said.

“He was exposed to a whole range of activities that were entirely inappropriate, he recalls being exposed to pornography at seven.”

The court heard, the defendant had four children aged ten to eight months.

“Your actions have destroyed the child’s life. Before this offending her life was carefree,” Judge Anthony Rafter SC said.

“There are some serious aggravating factors, the complainant was a young child, she was asleep at the time and you breached the trust, there was a significant age disparity.

“There are mitigating factors, the early plea of guilty, experiencing a dysfunctional upbringing and you were exposed to domestic violence, pornography from a young age.”

Judge Rafter sentenced him to 18 months imprisonment, suspended after six months, and to be released under supervision for three years.

Originally published as 41-year-old man pleads guilty to indecent treatment under age of 16 and making child exploitation material at Cairns District Court