Child-porn fiend Adrian Baulderstone used ‘Mr Baldy’ nickname on app
A grub who boasted about abusing children used the nickname of infamous child molester ‘Mr Baldy’ while trawling a popular kids messaging app. Police uncovered almost 8,000 images and videos of child porn in his bedroom.
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A grub who boasted about abusing children used the nickname of infamous child molester ‘Mr Baldy’ while trawling a popular kids messaging app.
Using the handle ‘Mr_Bauldy’, an apparent reference to Victoria’s worst paedophile, Adrian Baulderstone approached men and shared vile abuse material on gay dating app Grindr and messaging app Kik.
He bragged about abusing young children and sent vile unsolicited child exploitation material to at least one user of the sites.
Police later discovered almost 8,000 images and videos of child exploitation material including on a computer in Baulderstone’s bedroom.
Played consecutively, Baulderstone’s disturbing video collection ran for eight days straight.
The 42-year-old kept the material in a folder called “private collection warning contains kids and taboos are you sure you are open minded/jail bait boys.”
He told police he wasn’t particularly interested in the videos and images, and denied a sexual attraction to children.
He said he stored the disturbing material because he “wanted a collection available in the event that someone came to visit, and they wanted to watch pornography together”.
It was an explanation County Court judge Gavan Meredith described as “bordering on the absurd”.
“It is clear that the material which you possessed was depraved, corrupting, and highly exploitative,” Judge Meredith said.
“Given the number of files involved, there must be hundreds of different child victims involved in your offending,” Judge Meredith said.
“ These are images and videos of real children who have been corrupted and exploited in the making of this material.
“Recognition must be given to the fact that possession of child pornography material creates a market for the continued corruption and exploitation of children and those who possess such material, whether for profit or not, are more than mere passive recipients of the material, but are active participants in the market.”
Baulderstone pleaded guilty to single counts of transmitting child pornography, possessing child abuse material and possessing a drug of dependence.
Quizzed by police about his online alias, Baulderstone said he had been called Bauldy since his schooldays.
But sources close to the case suggested the ‘Mr_Bauldy’ moniker appeared to be a nod to notorious paedophile Mr Baldy.
Mr Baldy is among Victoria’s most notorious and feared child sex criminals and got his nickname for his practice of shaving his victims’ heads.
Baulderstone was jailed for two years and three months but could become eligible for parole after serving 14 months of that term.
He was also fined $250, ordered to undergo a sex offender course, and placed on the sex offender register for 15 years.