By Perry Duffin
A man who held senior posts in the NSW government and prominent think tanks has confessed to being a paedophile after officers stopped him at Sydney airport and searched his phone.
The man cannot be named, however, after he convinced a court to suppress his identity because of his mental health.
A senior bureaucrat turned think-tank director has confessed to possessing child abuse material, but his name is suppressed because of his mental health.Credit: Sam Mooy
Australian Border Force stopped the man, who is in his 40s, as he passed through Sydney’s international airport returning from the United Kingdom in August 2023.
The officers searched his phone and found child abuse material stored on the device.
The man was ordered to face court in February this year, but flew under the radar until Tuesday when he appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court to enter a plea.
The man pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing or controlling child abuse material, before Magistrate Jennifer Price.
The man’s lawyer, Slade Howell, told the court his client had twice tried to kill himself following the discovery of the child abuse material.
The first came two days after his phone was seized at the airport, the second two months later.
Since then, the court heard, the man had undergone extensive therapy sessions and no longer held any suicidal ideation.
Howell asked the court to suppress his client’s identity and any photographs for five years because of the impact it could have on his mental health.
The paedophile’s treating psychologist said negative press could see him return to self harm.
The Herald opposed the making of the order.
Executive counsel for this masthead, Larina Alick, told the court “open justice should be protected” unless “absolutely necessary”.
Alick told the court there was no reason to treat the man differently from any other in the courts – in fact, other paedophiles had appeared in the same court without suppression orders at the same time.
“They don’t get their name suppressed, so why does this defendant get their name suppressed?” Alick asked.
The paedophile’s legal team also asked for a ban on any photograph, even one pixelated or digitally altered, from being published. This, too, was opposed by the Herald.
Price concluded that a link could be made between the paedophile’s mental health and potential publicity.
Price made the order but in compromised terms; it will last for two years and pixelated photographs can be published – though the man cannot be identified.
The guilty man wept in court as the order was read out.
The paedophile previously held senior roles in the NSW government’s transport department and, most recently, in government relations for a major think tank.
He is no longer listed on their website and, in court documents, said he removed his social media profiles fearing he would be covered by the press.
The man will be sentenced in the NSW District Court later this year.
If you or someone you know is in need of support contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue.
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