Connor Richards, 21, pleads guilty to producing child abuse material
A magistrate has considered sending a young Lara man to jail after disturbing child abuse material was found on his phone and laptop.
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Disturbing child abuse material, including photos and video recordings of sexual interactions on an online chatroom, have been found on a young Lara man’s devices.
Connor Richards, 21, fronted the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to producing, possessing and distributing child abuse material.
Richards’ defence lawyer, Ryan Robertson, said the offending occurred when he was between 18 and 20-years old.
The Addy has chosen not to publish some details of the offending due to its graphic nature.
Between December 25, 2021 and March 28, 2022, Richards recorded multiple sexual interactions between himself and children as young as 13-years-old on Omegle, a live video chat website.
Between July 6-13, 2022, he accessed and downloaded multiple child abuse photos and videos.
Message logs on his Telegram account showed written child abuse material including details of “vulgar sex acts he would commit on children”.
On March 24, 2023, investigators from Geelong’s sexual offences and child abuse investigation team took over a probe referred by the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation in relation to a user uploading child exploitation material.
Police then searched Richards’ home in Lara, where he lived with his mother and grandfather, on July 23, 2023.
He was arrested and a number of items were seized, including a Samsung mobile phone, LG mobile phone, laptop and multiple USBs.
Richards provided the passwords to his devices and was taken to Corio police station where he made no comment during an interview.
Mr Robertson said the summary of offending makes “very confronting reading”.
“Not only for the court but for Mr Richards who has had to have it read aloud in a public space,” he said.
“It is a repugnant crime.
“Irrespective of any decision Your Honour makes today, his name will be forever blackened by this crime.”
Mr Robertson asked magistrate Ann McGarvie to sentence his client to a “lengthy and suitable” tailored community corrections order (CCO).
He asked the court to take into account Richards’ plea of guilty, evidence of his remorse and that he started counselling before he was charged.
Police prosecutor senior constable Denise Frame acknowledged Richards seemed willing to change through counselling, but said the nature and gravity of the offending was “extremely serious”.
“It’s morally depraved conduct,” she said.
“Offending of this type has a lifetime implication for children who are the victims.
“A strong message needs to be sent to the community that this behaviour cannot be tolerated.”
Ms McGarvie convicted and sentenced Richards to a CCO for three years.
He will be placed on the sex offenders register for life.
“I did consider a term of imprisonment because of the seriousness of the offending and the harm that would have occurred to the victims,” Ms McGarvie said.
“I don’t need to say again how serious these charges are because you have come to understand that these are real little girls and boys who are probably overseas somewhere and they’re being abused for people’s pleasure.”
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Originally published as Connor Richards, 21, pleads guilty to producing child abuse material
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