Victorian MP Rachel Carling-Jenkins reveals her husband was jailed for child porn

VICTORIAN MP Rachel Carling-Jenkins says she is haunted by faces of abused girls she saw in her husband’s secret child porn stash, after revealing the case in Parliament. Hear her emotional statement.

VICTORIAN MP Rachel Carling-Jenkins has spoken of the shocking moment she and her son uncovered her husband’s secret collection of child porn.

Dr Carling-Jenkins made an emotional declaration in Parliament this morning, revealing her estranged husband Gary had been convicted and jailed for child pornography offences.

She said on finding the vile material with her teenage son she left the family home immediately and the marriage ended.

Upper house MP Rachel Carling-Jenkins. Picture: Tony Gough

She said she would never forget the faces of the young victims.

“The faces of many are etched in my memory for eternity,” Dr Carling-Jenkins said.

“I find myself unconsciously searching the faces of little girls I see on the streets, distressed by the faces of little girls I glimpsed in his collection.

“These little girls have lost their innocence, childhood and control over their destiny.

“These little girls would not be abused if people like my ex-husband didn’t provide a market for their abuse.”

Dr Carling-Jenkins, Western Metropolitan Region upper house MP, revealed it was her own statement and that of her son that led to her husband’s conviction.

“In this discovery, I personally viewed deeply distressing images, which have caused me immediate and ongoing anguish,” she told Parliament.

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“Gary was initially picked up based on witness statements my son and I provided to police.

“These statements were recorded shortly after our discovery.

“I want to make one thing very clear: I had no idea in February 2016, that my husband was addicted to child pornography.”

Her former husband received four months’ jail on one count of knowingly possessing child pornography.

He was sentenced in the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court in March after pleading guilty.

According to Country Court records, the sentence was appealed to the County Court in April but was abandoned and struck out.

Dr Carling-Jenkins she had no regrets about reporting her husband to authorities.

The Australian Conservatives MP said she had not been able to talk about it while the matter was before court, but he had now been convicted in the County Court of Victoria for possessing the material.

She said the “few months in jail and inclusion on the child sex offender list” was not an adequate punishment.

“My marriage ended instantly and I left home the day I made that discovery and have not returned to the family home since, except to pick up belongings,” she said.

“I have no intention of returning to the house that holds such haunting memories, or to the marriage.

“I had believed for a long time he was suffering from a mental illness and I had attempted on numerous occasions to get him help, however Gary had consistently rebuffed or sabotaged these attempts, and I thought at the time that was another symptom of a mental illness.

South Australian senator Cory Bernardi with Dr Rachel Carling-Jenkins after her switch to his Australian Conservatives Party earlier this year. Aaron Francis/The Australian

“I look back now with clarity that only comes through hindsight around the lies, deception and cover-ups of Gary and his parents.

“Gary does not have a mental illness, his behaviour stemmed from something much more sinister.

“Victoria Police embarked on a long and I would believe arduous investigation.

“At the conclusion they received a conviction and a custodial sentence in the County Court.

“I do not believe a sentence of a few months in jail and inclusion on (the) sex offenders register was adequate given the seriousness of the offences.”

Dr Carling-Jenkins said her former husband had since abused her “emotionally”, resisting signing divorce payments and refusing to provide her a property settlement forcing her to reside in unstable accommodation.

She thanked Victoria Police’s Sexual Offences and Child Abuses Team for “their amazing diligence, support and professionalism in dealing with this case”.

“When I first came into this place, I stated under my watch there will not be silence, so I stand here today and for the next four years as a voice for the vulnerable, a voice for the enslaved and a voice for the voiceless,” she said.

In her inaugural election speech in 2014, Dr Carling-Jenkins thanked her then-husband for his support.

“And I acknowledge my husband, Gary, a very tolerant man, who has put up with having a wife devoted to causes. Thanks for your support, for your humour and for walking the dog,” she said.