Brisbane entrepreneur William Wee Liat Tan accused of asking mum to destroy child abuse evidence
A Brisbane businessman accused of running an online network encouraging child sexual abuse is alleged to have called his mum from prison and asked her to destroy evidence.
A high-flying Brisbane entrepreneur accused of running an online network encouraging child sexual abuse is accused of asking his mum to destroy alleged evidence of crimes dating back over nearly a decade, a court has heard.
William Wee Liat Tan applied for bail in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Monday where the court heard he had last month tried to have his mother destroy online evidence against him on a fetish website while he was in prison on remand.
The 49-year-old, who was until recently a co-director of a beauty pageant company called Ms Oceania, applied for bail on 80 charges including charges of administering a child exploitation material website, attempting to pervert the course of justice and using a carrier service to transmit, make available, publish, distribute, advertise or promote child abuse material.
The court heard that after Tan was arrested he was remanded in prison after he was denied bail in a lower court on October 12.
Three weeks later on November 5, he used the prison Arunta system to phone his mother, a call which was recorded.
“It did not dissuade him from making a request of his mother to access his computer and then access an account on a computer on the website called Fetlife,” Justice Graeme Crow stated, in reference to a website describing itself as “the world’s largest and most popular social network for the BDSM community, kink community, and fetish community”.
“He was recorded as providing his mother with the username and password for that account, because he wished his mother to somewhat join in his criminal activity by deleting evidence of his past criminal activities,” Justice Crow said, summarising the prosecution allegations.
“Fortunately for the prosecution, Mr Tan’s mother was not able to do this due to an error in the details provided by Mr Tan to his own mother. His mother has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
“When police seized the device and did obtain access to the Fetlife account, they were able to determine that it contained similar material that was found on the Wire application.
“The information gained on that, shows that there were child exploitation offences occurring as far back as October 2016, and the material that was obtained more recently re: Fetlife relates to charges 39 through to 46, of the 46 charges which form the third tranche of the allegations against Mr Tan,” he said of alleged child abuse material, consisting of written text.
“It can be shown that as far back as October 2016, it seems to me – and I would infer as a pretty strong case – that the applicant in private messages to another user of Fetlife had distributed child abuse material,” he said.
The court previously heard he allegedly founded and administered an online group titled “Joy of Rape” with seven active members, which centred around “molesting and hardcore child sex, rape”.
He also allegedly encouraged another man in the United States to rape his 15-year-old daughter over the course of an online chat.
Tan is also alleged to have been the administrator of a group chat on the Wire app titled “Rough Love” with 20 members, and Tan is alleged to have described the group as “being about being rough with kids and our children”.
Justice Crow told the court that other charges relate to allegations that Tan was an “active participant” and member of several chat groups using the encrypted messaging app called Wire where child abuse material was being distributed.
He is also alleged of sending the worst kind of child abuse video to another user on the Wire.
Another charge relates to an 11-year-old girl from Italy, the court heard.
Crown Prosecutor Stephanie Gallagher submitted that Tan “was not necessarily someone who was able to stop of his own accord this perverted sexual attraction to children”.
“Tan discusses with his mother the case proceeding by way of pleading guilty, and discusses … when he expects his sentence date to be,” Ms Gallagher told the court.
“So this was never a man … who was going to really challenge the broad category of offending here,” Ms Gallagher said of Tan.
She submitted there was a strong risk of Tan trying to pervert the course of justice if freed on bail.
In refusing bail Justice Crow said it was “deeply troubling” that Tan should have interests in a beauty pageant business given there was a “strong prima facie case against” Tan related to child sex abuse for almost a decade.
“I see that he has taken steps to divest himself of his shareholding and interests in those companies,” Justice Crow stated.
Police allege that Tan engaged in serious child sexual abuse material activity for more than nine years.
Tan, who has no criminal history, had been hoping to be freed on bail to live with his ailing and elderly mother, defence counsel Edward Coker told the court.
He had agreed to limit himself to one mobile phone and one computer connected to the internet if freed on bail.
His case returns to Brisbane Magistrates Court on February 2.
Originally published as Brisbane entrepreneur William Wee Liat Tan accused of asking mum to destroy child abuse evidence
