Fraser Coast man pleads guilty to indecent treatment of a child

A Fraser Coast father, previously convicted for sharing vile videos involving babies, has ended up in court again – this time for acts involving his six-year-old daughter. *Distressing.

The girl’s father exposed himself to the girl after making her watch pornographic videos.

A father who exposed his young daughter to pornography, including telling her to “pick a video”, later used a sex toy to masturbate in front of her, a court has heard.

The Fraser Coast man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to indecent treatment of a child and using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material.

Crown prosecutor James Bishop said the girl was six years old when the incident happened.

He told the girl to go to the bedroom to “watch her do some things” than sat beside her on the bed.

The man, who had previously been the subject of an Australian Federal Police sting for accessing child exploitation material, then showed the girl pornographic videos on his phone, including adults engaging in intercourse, before telling her not to tell her mother or he would “go to jail”, Mr Bishop said.

He then locked the bedroom door before taking a sex toy from the cupboard and committing the gross act.

The girl’s brother knocked on the door and the man pulled his pants up.

His offending came to light when he was arrested on other charges, the court heard.

The girl’s father exposed himself to the girl after making her watch pornographic videos.

The girl disclosed what had happened to her mother after being told he was not coming back, Mr Bishop said.

The victim’s mother read an impact statement to the court, sharing the impact her former partner’s offending had left on her family.

She said he was supposed to be her daughter’s protector and a man she could trust.

The offending had caused a great deal of pain and suffering, the woman said.

“We are strong and I will not allow you to take anymore from them than what you already have,” she said.

In addition to the abuse of his own child, the court heard police had executed a search warrant at a home in Toowoomba and officers discovered a series of child abuse images the man had sent to an associate.

The 27 images showed girls between 10 and 14 in sexualised poses wearing underpants and a bikini.

The man had made a comment to the other person, telling them there were more seriously sexualised images available at the source, but behind a paywall, the court heard.

Maryborough Courthouse. Photo: Valerie Horton/ Fraser Coast Chronicle.

It also heard the man had “terrible” upbringing and he had been abused physically, emotionally and sexually by various adults.

That had led to an early use of drugs, the court was told, and the man had been diagnosed with mental health conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxious distress and substance abuse disorders.

Judge Brian Devereaux said the man’s possession and distribution of the child abuse images this time was on the lower end of the scale.

When it came to the abuse of the daughter however, the judge said his conduct had been a terrible breach of trust for the family, as evidenced by the statement made by the child’s mother.

The total of the sentences imposed was five years’ imprisonment.

The 447 days he had spent in presentence custody was declared as time served and a fixed non parole period of one year and six months imprisonment was implemented.

The man will be eligible for parole on August 18, 2025.

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Originally published as Fraser Coast man pleads guilty to indecent treatment of a child