Former private school student pleads guilty to possessing, distributing child exploitation material

A former Sunshine Coast private school student at one point advertised prices for links containing files of child abuse.

The man faced Maroochydore District Court for sentence on three charges. Picture: David Clark

A former private school student has been given a suspended jail sentence after his perverted stash of child exploitation material was unearthed by police.

Maroochydore District Court was told this week how the man, from the age of 17 to 20, curated his collection of horrid images and videos of child abuse he accumulated online.

The man, who cannot be named due to being a child at the start of his crimes, admitted to his offences after pleading guilty to possessing and distributing child exploitation material. He also pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to access child abuse material.

The now 21-year-old university student had his collection discovered by police following a search warrant at his Sunshine Coast home on February 18 last year.

During their search police found hundreds of images and videos of child exploitation material across various devices. He told police he had only downloaded 10 images and videos over three years. The files were too repugnant to describe however involved children as young as one to three years old being abused.

Crown prosecutor Caleb Theunissen said the man told police he would often view the disgusting files through “mega links” online.

The court heard he admitted to sending some links where he clarified “that’s how you would get more”.

He pleaded guilty in court. Picture: David Clark

Mr Theunissen said the man stated he stopped sending it in the past two years and just received it, however police investigations revealed he had been sending the perverted links as recently as January 5 last year.

Overall the 21-year-old sent links up to 15 times, including up to a terabyte of files at one point.

The Crown prosecutor said he would use hashtags on Twitter to find people who would send links, while he also used Telegram to talk to others to receive the files.

One conversation was quoted in court where the man asked if he wanted to “trade”. The user said yes and asked if he had “ any rape material”.

“Yeah send what you got and I’ll see if I can find my rape stuff,” the man replied.

He also asked the user if he had any “mum/son” he could send.

Mr Theunissen said in another conversation the 21-year-old was offered money for links. He said yes and “advertised” a variety of prices, including one deal where he sell four terabytes of files for $75 which had “way more unique videos”.

The court heard this trade could not be proven to have happened.

He often sent and received links of heinous child exploitation material. Picture: iStock

Mr Theunissen said while the university student had no criminal history, he should serve actual time for the “grotesque” and “vulgar” files.

He claimed there were no exceptional circumstances which needed to be proven so the man did not serve jail time due to the charges.

Defence barrister Mark McCarthy KC said the 21-year-old, whose family immigrated to Australia from overseas, was treated for his undiagnosed disorders which made him a low risk of him offending once again.

Mr McCarthy said the 21-year-old worked regularly and studied finance at university.

The court heard the young man’s parents were shocked by his crimes but still stood by him.

The criminal barrister said this rehabilitation partnered with his youth meant there were exceptional circumstances.

In reading from a medical report, Judge Terry Gardiner said the man’s offending came at a time of immaturity, loneliness and social isolation.

He however believed the 21-year-old held a genuine commitment to change and was remorseful. So he did not send him to jail.

Instead, the university student was given a head jail sentence of two years, suspended for two and a half years.

He was also placed on a two and a half year probation order and must perform 50 hours’ community service.

Convictions were recorded.

Originally published as Former private school student pleads guilty to possessing, distributing child exploitation material