Paul Worsnop to fight allegation he possessed child abuse material

A former St Helena school chaplain, Victoria Police volunteer and Scout leader kept thousands of images of child abuse material in a computer folder labelled “virus”, a court has heard.

Paul Worsnop is fighting an allegation he kept thousands of images of disturbing child abuse material. Picture: Supplied

A school chaplain possessed thousands of images of child abuse on his hard drive in a folder called “virus material”, a court has heard.

Paul Worsnop, 64, fronted the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday to fight the allegation, arguing another person could have planted them on his device.

The Herald Sun last year revealed Mr Worsnop – who was a police volunteer, Scout leader and Carols by Candlelight volunteer – was charged with possession of child abuse material and stood down from Victoria Police in August 2021.

From 2014, Mr Worsnop also worked as a school chaplain at St Helena Secondary College after a brief stint at Auburn High School.

The volunteer, who has pleaded not guilty to the charge, continued working at St Helena Secondary College until at least October 2021.

Worsnop was a former school chaplain and Scout leader. Picture: Supplied

Defence lawyer Daniel Gurvich KC told the court there was a “reasonable possibility” another person, associated with Mr Worsnop’s church, uploaded the images to his hard drive.

But Mr Gurvich could not provide any evidence which proved the hard drive had been tampered with by another person.

Prosecutor Bianca Moleta argued that even if Mr Worsnop did not upload the images himself, he still knowingly possessed the material.

“We say he knew about (the images) through the regular and consistent use (of the hard drive),” she said.

The court heard Mr Worsnop used the external BlueEye hard drive to back up old computer drives.

The folder, which also contained adult pornography, was called “virus material”.

“It’s open to the court to accept … the accused has backed up the contents of an (internal hard drive) onto the BlueEye hard drive, that includes the child abuse material,” she said.

The court heard the folder and its contents were organised in a “meticulous” way, similar to the way Mr Worsnop organised his other personal folders.

Ms Moleta also said the folder was deliberately labelled “virus material” to avoid any detection of the child abuse images.

Worsnop conducting a service as a chaplain. Picture: Supplied

While Mr Gurvich conceded the material was present on the hard drive from 2007 to 2013, he said there was “no evidence” his client ever sat at a computer and viewed the contents of the folder.

But Magistrate Leon Fluxman queried why Mr Worsnop did not do anything about the “virus” folder, such as delete it or scan it.

While working at St Helena Secondary College, Mr Worsnop counselled and supported vulnerable students, did extensive one-on-one counselling and distributed second-hand uniforms from his office.

Other organisations, such as Scouts Victoria, barred him from returning in any capacity while the charge was pending.

He also had his teacher’s registration cancelled in January 2022 by the Victorian Institute of Teaching.

Mr Fluxman will hand down his verdict on October 5.