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Geelong-region man pleads guilty to child abuse material charges

Police exposed “hidden, dark aspect” of a Geelong-region man’s character when they busted him trading child abuse material with other users for over a year, a court has heard.

The man used encrypted apps to trade child abuse material with other users.
The man used encrypted apps to trade child abuse material with other users.

A man was still logged into the apps he’d used to trade child abuse material when police came knocking, a court has heard.

The man, who can’t be named for legal reasons, appeared in the County Court at Geelong this week and pleaded guilty to three offences; transmitting child abuse material, accessing or causing child abuse material to be transmitted to self and possessing child abuse material.

Crown prosecutor Harriet Lomas told the court the offending arose from the man’s dealings with other users on encrypted messaging apps Telegram and Session and instant-messenger Kik.

The court heard he transmitted 512 CAM files in conversations with 12 different users – ten users on Telegram and one each on Session and Kik – and received 306 files in conversations with eight users, between February 2023 and October 2024.

When police raided his home, the man was still logged into Session on his phone and Telegram on his desktop computer.

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Analysis of the man’s devices also revealed 345 files containing child abuse material with 190 images and 71 videos falling into category one.

Ms Lomas said those files depicted the abuse of real children aged between three and 11-years-old.

The man’s lawyer, Susanna Locke, conceded the only option to the court was a jail sentence, but argued for her client to be released on a recognisance release order (RRO).

A RRO allows an offender to be released from prison, provided they enter into conditions including a good behaviour bond, and can only be made in exceptional circumstances.

Ms Locke said the man had been diagnosed with an intense adjustment disorder and a prison sentence could lead to a deterioration of his mental health, while a release order would provide community protection through targeted treatment.

Judge Mullaly suggested the man’s adjustment disorder arose following the exposure of “a hidden, dark aspect of his character” and was “hardly in the same category as impaired mental function”.

Ms Locke resisted this characterisation, stating the disorder accompanied “a genuine confrontation with problematic behaviour” and her client had shown a commitment to treatment.

The court heard he sought psychological help shortly after being arrested, and had since completed a group program and regular counselling with a psychologist.

His lawyer also submitted there had been extra-curial punishment regarding his family, which could lead to family hardship as the man was the main breadwinner.

While she submitted the man had “excellent” prospects for rehabilitation, the court heard there were “shortcomings” in the insight he displayed into his offending, particularly around the impact on the victims.

“He’s watching the rape of children time and again, and encouraging it … what he doesn’t understand is the corrosive aspect of his engagement in this industry,” Judge Mullaly said.

Ms Locke said these “gaps” in his insight could be targeted with treatment, and had to be understood in the context of his own early sexual experiences which were a factor into his “cognitive distortions”.

Ms Lomas submitted that material was “highly depraved” and the man’s conduct was protracted.

She argued the factors raised by the defence, some accepted by the prosecution, did not amount to exceptional circumstances.

The man was remanded into custody and will be sentenced later this month.

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Originally published as Geelong-region man pleads guilty to child abuse material charges

Original URL: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/geelong/geelongregion-man-pleads-guilty-to-child-abuse-material-charges/news-story/80a63df24f04b0666abeeb8044f25f62