Named and shamed: NSW men caught with child abuse material
They have different professions and come from different parts of NSW but they have one thing in common — they have all been charged with possessing horror child abuse material. See the list.
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They are teachers, sport coaches, disability workers, chefs and even tradies — men from all walks of life who were arrested and charged over child abuse material.
The nation’s largest online child abuse investigation — Operation Arkstone — uncovered an alarming number of offenders exploiting kids by creating or disseminating child abuse material.
In 2020 US authorities tipped off the Australian Federal Police about a suspicious Snapchat account, which was later tracked down to an address in Wyong, on the NSW Central Coast, launching the wide-scale investigation.
Since then a number of arrests have been made as part of Operation Arkstone — while NSW Police continue to target people making or sending child abuse material.
These are some of the people who have faced court in NSW for child abuse offences.
Justin Kenneth Radford
The Central Coast man filmed himself sexually abusing a young boy before he was caught with thousands of “horrific and depraved” child abuse images.
Former Nine Network tape library assistant Justin Kenneth Radford was charged with more than 100 offences but later pleaded guilty to 17, including seven counts of sexually touching a young boy, four counts of using the child to produce child abuse material and disseminating it and thousands of images and videos of child abuse and bestiality material to 19 separate individuals.
The court heard when the AFP raided Radford’s home they seized three mobile phones and a laptop containing an estimated 4416 videos and 11,151 photos of child sex abuse and bestiality material with 56 per cent of the files rated “category 4”, being the second worst type conceivable.
He was sentenced to 18 years prison with a non-parole period of 12 years. With time served since his arrest he will be eligible for parole in February, 2032.
Grant Harden
Sydney soccer coach Grant Harden was arrested as part of national child abuse investigation Operation Arkstone in 2020, where detectives found a shocking 277 videos of sexual assaults against seven children, aged between five and eight, on his phone.
Harden, who pleaded guilty to 179 offences in July 2021, was sentenced to 30 years jail for the horrific assaults as well as sending and receiving child abuse material which spanned two-and-a-half years to mid-2020.
According to agreed facts, Harden would send videos of his abuse to other paedophiles under three different code names across various chat platforms, including Snapchat. There, he posted more than 100 advertisements asking to receive pedophilic videos and images.
Under the name “Baddad03” he posted the advertisement: “28Pervy Dad Looking to Chat with Under 14, or if you’re with a little boy. Any perv dads, big bros, uncles, teachers, babysitters etc. Must be willing to show boy.”
Richard Martin Spry
The airconditioner worker was in a sexual relationship with Grant Harden and admitted to receiving child abuse material from the convicted paedophile.
Police found and seized a rack-mounted computer in Richard Spry’s garage with nearly 800 videos and images of child sex abuse material, some of which was sent by his heinous ex-lover, court documents reveal.
Nearly 100 videos and 15 images were of penetrative sexual activity between children or adults and children, 11 images and six videos included either sadism, humiliation or bestiality and 57 images were of animated or virtual children engaged in sexual poses or activity, the facts read.
The material was found in various zip folders titled “young boys”, “sweet guys”, “catfished”, “Fun”,“ Young Boys”, “BOYS PICS AND VIDS” and “stalking Grant”.
Spry pleaded guilty at Penrith Local Court to one count of possessing child abuse material and is due to be sentenced.
Stephen Potts
In December 2021, a disability worker who accessed and spread sexual images of children was sentenced for eight carriage-related child abuse material offences, including three of using a carriage service to transmit/publish/promote child abuse in the Lismore District Court.
Stephen Potts was part of a group of offenders charged over child exploitation material uncovered during Operation Arkstone.
The child victims ranged in age from 16 months to 15 years, with an average age of eight years.
The material was discovered during a raid of Potts’ Goonellabah home in August 2020.
Judge Warwick Hunt convicted Potts and sentenced him to two years and nine months in jail.
However, Potts was ordered to serve 12 months and then be released on a recognisance release order under good behaviour for a period of three years.
Matthew Ellis Atkins
Matthew Ellis Atkins, of Tweed Heads, was sentenced in May 2022 after he previously pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse material.
The court heard Atkins was found with 52 images of naked, pre-pubescent females during a search on February 25.
According to court papers, throughout the police investigation Atkins maintained he searched for and possessed child abuse material for the purpose of identifying paedophiles on the internet so he can extort them for financial gain.
Atkins was sentenced to nine months imprisonment with a three month non-parole period.
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Dale Jerel Rixon
Dale Jerel Rixon’s two charges of possessing child abuse material and another of possessing a prohibited drug went before Grafton Local Court in March 2022.
The police prosecution made submissions of further images, videos and a substitute categorisation schedule of seriousness.
Rixon was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of eight months and an 18-month community corrections order. He is eligible for parole on January 26, 2023.
Bret Anthony Chesworth
Pleaded guilty to seven offences which included possession of child abuse material and using a carriage service to transmit and access child abuse material between March 2019 and September 2020.
In December 2021, Chesworth was sentenced to four years, six months jail, with a non-parole period of two years and six months. He will be eligible for release in March 2023.
Police court facts stated the devices included videos of adults sexually abusing babies and toddlers.
Stored online chats also revealed Chesworth had encouraged another man to record himself abusing his own child.
Timothy Doyle and Steven Garrad
Kendall residents Steven Garrad and Timothy Doyle were arrested as part of Operation Arkstone.
Garrad pleaded guilty to more than 100 offences, while Doyle pleaded guilty to 248 offences,
including multiple counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10 years old.
It’s understood Garrad pleaded guilty to abusing nine children while Doyle admitted to abusing 28 victims.
The victims cannot be identified but police previously said Doyle used his position at a daycare centre to gain access to 16 young victims.
What can be published is that Garrad and Doyle abused the boys over a period of years with one child being aged just three years old in some sickening videos.
Many videos were filmed in the abusers’ homes, the homes of their elderly parents and in public places including cars and roadsides in the Mid-North Coast.
The pair is on remand awaiting sentencing.
Alec McGeary
Alec McGeary was an amateur porn star, IT worker and engineering student when he was arrested at his home in Randwick, in Sydney’s east in 2020.
According to court documents, McGeary’s phone had a link saved in ‘Notes’ to a Dropbox account where there was a folder entitled “Boy Gulag” which contained the child sex abuse images.
After moving back to Tasmania, McGeary pleaded guilty to one count of using a carriage service to access child abuse material and one count of possessing or controlling child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service.
The Supreme Court of Tasmania heard he received child abuse material from a man he met online and looked at it over two to three years – acts the court accepted he regretted.
McGeary, who had no prior criminal record, avoided jail time and was sentenced to six months home detention order with electronic monitoring.
Jake Caldwell-Edwards
The Seaforth chef was arrested on November 3, 2020 as part of Operation Arkstone.
Jake Caldwell-Edwards pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material, possessing or controlling child abuse material, and using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material.
In December 2022, he was convicted and sentenced to a prison term of two years and six months, to be released immediately on a Commonwealth recognisance for two years.
In total, police discovered 3608 files of highly depraved child abuse material on one phone, three separate folders on cloud service Dropbox with 16GB of child abuse material, and evidence of conversations with users identifying as children on messaging apps Skype and Kik.
Shaun Dregmans
Hospitality worker Shaun Dregmans pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse material after a dawn raid on his north shore home in 2021.
On March 14, 2022, the 32-year-old was sentenced in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court to two years jail but was released immediately on a $5000 recognisance release order and a four-year good behaviour bond.
The court heard Dregmans messaged “that’s so hot” when asked if he likes bestiality and child abuse videos, and “I was hoping you’d say that” when he was asked if he wanted to watch incest, bestiality and child abuse videos.
He had been asked those questions by a man he met on Grindr who he wanted to impress and was totally repulsed by what he said, the court heard.
Ohrin Banas
After being arrested in January 2021 in the Sydney leafy north shore suburb of Lane Cove, Ohrin Banas was sentenced to two years and six months jail in March for wilful and obscene exposure in a public place, possessing or controlling child abuse material obtained using a carriage service and using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material.
Banas pleaded guilty to the charges at Downing Centre District Court.
He will be eligible for release on a $100 recognisance release order after serving 15 months, when he will enter a two-year good behaviour bond.
James Ronald Selby
Former Rugby Australia strategist pleaded guilty to nine counts of possessing or sending child abuse material after being arrested as part of Operation Arkstone in September 2021.
Selby pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse material possession, using a carriage service to access child abuse material, four counts of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material, one count of soliciting child abuse material through a carriage service, and one count of using a carriage service to produce child abuse material.
In November 2022, Selby was convicted of eight child abuse material offences after seven years of hideous child abuse material offending which is too vile to detail.
He was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment with a two-year non-parole period, backdated by 42 days to account for pre-sentence custody.
Rabie Mouhajer
Charges were laid after Australian Federal Police raided a Campbelltown home in September 2020 and seized multiple devices including mobile phones and laptops before arresting Rabie Mouhajer.
He admitted to using apps such as Snapchat to send and receive child abuse material. One user messaged him to say that had some material of someone who looks “really young, looks more like rape” to which Mouhajer responded “show me”.
While handing down his sentence, Judge Andrew Colefax revealed the contents of the child abuse material was “disturbing” and “depraved” with “children as young as two in visible distress with some being tortured”.
Mouhajer was convicted and sentenced to four years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years and six months. Mouhajer will be eligible for release in November, 2024.
Daniel Houweling
A former Illawarra cop escaped jail time after he was found with child abuse material on his phone while employed with the NSW Police Force.
Daniel Houweling pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse material using carriage service, and use carriage service to access child abuse, after hundreds of disturbing images were found on his phone.
The former senior constable told Judge Andrew Haesler during a sentencing hearing he first noticed an attraction to young girls when he was 13, but rejected it out of fear of consequence.
On his phone, officers from the Professional Standards Command found 237 images and seven videos of child abuse material.
According to the documents, 10 illegal images were located in a folder named ‘documents’, depicting pre-pubescent females in various stages of undress, engaging in sexually explicit poses.
Houweling, who was undertaking treatment for his pedophilic attraction, was convicted and sentenced to an 18-month suspended jail sentence.
David Macpherson
David Macpherson, a casual teacher at Ambarvale High School in Sydney’s south west, sent sexually explicit messages to an investigator posing as a 14-year-old girl.
The Woodbine man worked as a casual teacher after he retired as the school’s deputy principal. He pleaded guilty to six charges, including one count of using a carriage service to groom an person aged under 16 for sex and two counts of using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material.
In September 2020, a police officer from the Child Exploitation internet Unit assumed the online identity (AOI) of a 14-year-old girl.
Macpherson sent messages to AOI asking if she would sexually touch herself. He then proceeded to give detailed and explicit instructions on how to masturbate for over an hour, a court heard.
He encouraged AOI to take and send a topless picture, saying “maybe in front of your mirror is probably the easiest way”.
A court heard when Macpherson was arrested, his phone was open and unlocked, revealing a picture of an underage female in underwear.
In April 2022, Macpherson was sentenced to a non-parole period of two years and six months.
William Ruming
A Batemans Bay man who pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse material after his wife uncovered a cache of explicit images and messages avoided jail time.
Father of two William Ruming was convicted and sentenced to a three-year community corrections order, and ordered to complete 400 hours of community service.
Ruming’s wife was using the flashlight function on her husband’s phone when she made the discovery, which included messages from a group chat titled “family enthusiasts” and a user named “pantie man”.
In conversations recorded in police documents, the former Sanctuary Point and Surfside man received multiple images, including of pre-pubescent girls posing or engaged in sexual acts.
Luke Cockcroft
Sydney Trains worker Luke Cockcroft was sentenced after police found multiple child abuse videos on his phone when he shared one to a group on a messaging app.
Court documents showed officers initially found three videos of pre-pubescent girls and boys and females involved in sexual acts.
The documents further state when the police spoke with Cockcroft he said he knew there was one video involving a young girl performing a sexual act.
His lawyer told the court that his client was remorseful and ashamed of his actions and acknowledged they were very serious.
Magistrate Robert Rabbidge said the children depicted in this imagery are victims of “very abusive and very greedy adults”.
Cockcroft was convicted and sentenced to a two-year community corrections order with the order to complete 150 hours of community service.
Zoran Necovski
Courier Zoran Necovski, who was caught with a hoard of nearly 30,000 items of child abuse material, was jailed for two years with a non-parole period of 14 months.
In 2022, Necovski was sentenced on six counts of possessing child abuse material after a police raided his Keira St abode in Port Kembla and seized 17 devices.
Necovski was shown three files found on one of the hard drives, all depicting horrendous sexual acts being performed on children under eight, and he said “Disgusting”, “Doesn’t ring a bell” and “Sounds impossible”.
Magistrate Claire Girotto described Necovski’s crimes as “callous and predatory” before convicting and sentencing him.
Joshua Dalton
Moss Vale man Joshua Dalton pleaded guilty to possessing and producing child sex abuse material and was sentenced in 2022 after police discovered more than 8600 images and videos at his house.
According court documents, police came across evidence the local supermarket worker was in possession of child abuse material in July, 2021.
Police facts state his partner confronted him about whether police would locate anything, and he said “yes, if they took the USB that was in my jacket”.
When she asked what they would find, he said “child porn”.
According to documents, his partner located the USB stick inside a small hidden pocket of the jacket, which Dalton wanted her to flush down the toilet. She refused and handed it over to the Southern Highlands Police Station the following day.
Facts state after conducting forensic examinations of the USB, police located 447 videos and 8195 images of child sexual abuse.
He was sentenced to prison for four years, backdated to July 2021, with a non-parole period of 26 months from that date. He is to be supervised upon release by community corrections.
Warren John Kemp
Ex-paramedic Warren John Kemp pleaded guilty possessing child abuse material disseminating child abuse material, intentionally recording intimate images without consent; and two counts of intentionally distributing intimate images without consent.
The offences occurred during the first half of 2021 with Kemp using messaging services Viber and Kik to send and receive the child exploitation material.
The court heard Kemp sent 58 videos and two images via Viber to a person, saying “She loves it. What do you think about the one asleep?”.
Kemp, of Bulli, was convicted and sentenced to a two-year intensive corrections order which was to run concurrently with a two-year community corrections order, which will expire in August, 2024.
Bevan Coker
An Illawarra man said he was “messed up on ice” when he accessed and transmitted “disgusting” child abuse images online.
In 2021, Bevan Coker pleaded guilty to four charges, including using a carriage service to access child abuse material, two counts of using a carriage service to transmit/publish/promote child abuse and possessing or controlling child abuse material-use carriage service.
In court it was revealed the images and videos, while low in volume, were “highly disturbing”, showing children from newborn ages to 10 years old being sexually abused, some while blindfolded and tied up.
In giving evidence, Coker said he never had a sexual attraction to children before he started using ice, and that it only occurred while he was high.
Coker was convicted and sentenced to two years and three months jail, allowing his release from jail after nine months on a recognisance release order.
Cannot be identified
Arrest made on December 17, 2020 in Newcastle
Sentenced to six years prison for using a carriage service to harass, using a carriage service involving private sexual material to harass, using a carriage service to transmit, publish or promote child abuse material and use carriage service to plan a sexual act against a person.
While this man’s case is complete, he cannot be named for legal reasons.
Originally published as Named and shamed: NSW men caught with child abuse material
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