Qld miner jailed for pedophile chatroom child abuse material

The depraved actions of a Qld grandfather who was the moderator of three pedophile internet chatrooms have been revealed in court. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

The horror fantasies and actions of a Queensland grandfather who was the moderator of three pedophile internet chat rooms was revealed in the Supreme Court last week as he was sentenced to a 15-year prison term.

The horror fantasies and actions of a Queensland grandfather who was the moderator of three pedophile internet chat rooms was revealed in the Supreme Court last week as he was sentenced to a 15-year prison term.

Among his depraved, disgusting crimes, the 55-year-old miner sent a mentally ill teenage girl a gang rape video which depicted four men raping a child, Commonwealth prosecutor Ellie McDonald told the court in Rockhampton.

The man’s criminal activity was detected by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency as he shared child abuse material in many chats on an online platform and claimed he had easy access to children he could sexually abuse, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) reported on May 27, 2025.

UK authorities advised the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) which opened an investigation and the Northern Command Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team linked the online activity to the defendant, with a search warrant executed at his home on February 2, 2024.

Justice Graeme Crow said it was difficult for anyone to comprehend all of the facts of the man’s offending which was typed out on 21 A4 pages, saying “it’s just so traumatic” and “a bit mind-numbing in their extent and in their horror”.

Ms McDonald said three devices seized revealed he had accumulated 9766 child abuse files of which 4765 were category one images and one folder of material he captured of his own granddaughters in sexually exploited positions.

The defendant shared 256 files in many different online chatrooms that had a total of 768 participants during an eight month period prior to the raid on his house.

He became moderator in three of the chat groups and invited a total of 32 participants to those groups.

Ms McDonald said the title of the groups were indicative of the type of material shared.

She said in one chat group with just Australian participants, the man became a moderator of the chat the same day he joined and went on to invite 17 people to join.

Ms McDonald said that group not only discussed abusing their own children, including one who used the abuse as a form of punishment for using their credit card, but also about impregnation and abortion of their victims.

She said the defendant stated in that group that he liked group sex, wife swapping, orgies, gang bangs, young teens, “anything really”.

Six weeks later, the defendant, who has since been diagnosed with pedophilic disorder, became the moderator of another chat group and invited seven users, sharing 163 files to that chatroom.

He also asked children to send him photographs of themselves with his name written on a piece of paper held in front of them - two of the 10 users were under the age of 16.

Ms McDonald said after the raid revealed the content on his devices, the man told officers: “They are just photos. Just part of the fantasy”.

She said when asked about why he put those files of his prepubescent granddaughters in a special folder, the defendant said it was “because I knew they were inappropriate”.

Ms McDonald said he had transmitted child abuse material in written form on 17 occasions to four groups containing a total of 84 users, and a further sent 171 files to 22 individual users, with the material primarily focused on expressing his sexual interest in his granddaughters.

She said they were “his plans to groom them and what he intended to do with them sexually”.

“Those conversations were extremely extensive and extremely depraved,” Ms McDonald said.

She read out part of one of those messages to the court which showed the defendant’s misguided belief the child was showing sexual interest in him, saying “they definitely know I’m watching too because they look me in the eyes and just smile” and then went on to say “society has f**ked things up”.

Ms McDonald said the father-of-three also wrote “I am treading gently. Don’t want to f**k up a good thing” and “I know what’s underneath (clothing) but I just can’t touch it. It’s like having a present and can’t open it”.

She said it was clear from these comments that he had “a complete lack of insight into his behaviour” and “had it not been for the police intervention” the indecent treatment of his granddaughters would have continued.

The mother of one of the children wrote a victim impact statement which was read out in court by Ms McDonald.

She said she used to be able to describe the offender as “kind and harmless” but “little did I know there was a wolf in sheepskin living among us”.

The mother said the family had been left with mixed feelings of “ultimate betrayal, disgust, anger and complete disbelief”.

She said this had been “like living… in a true crime podcast” wondering “why no one knew this person in their immediate family circle was a child predator”.

The mother said she now wonders who she can trust and feels physically sick when she thinks about the facade the offender lived out just to be near his prey which he had “the sickest and scariest of intentions for these babies’ futures”.

“I pray no one else with children crosses paths with this man and is fooled by the wolf in sheep’s skin like we sadly were,” she said.

Ms McDonald said the defendant also communicated online with six people he believed were female children aged 13 to 15, transmitting indecent material to them, outlining his sexual interest to them and what he wanted to do to them.

She said the man, in communicating with a 14-year-old girl who told him she had schizophrenia, told her she was “beautiful” and a “sweetheart” and she should “just think of me as a naughty grandpa that you can talk to about anything”.

She said he went on to ask if she wanted to see a rape video.

Ms McDonald said the man sent 63 child abuse material in these chats with ‘children’ including one file depicting a prepubescent female being raped by four adult males.

Defence barrister Tom Polley said his client had worked in roles in the mining industry.

He said his marriage had broken down because the offending had been revealed.

Mr Polley said his client advised the relationship with his wife had been “next to nothing” for the five years prior.

The man pleaded guilty to one count of using a carriage service to access child abuse material, one count of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material, two counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 years, six counts of using a carriage service to transmit indecent communication to a person under 16 years, one count of an aggravated offence – offence involving conduct on three or more occasions and two or more people, one count of using a carriage service to solicit child abuse material, one count of using a carriage service to cause child abuse material to be transmitted to oneself, and one count of possessing child abuse material obtained using a carriage service.

He was sentenced to a 15-year prison term with a 7.5 year non-parole period.

Originally published as Qld miner jailed for pedophile chatroom child abuse material