Whitsundays man pleads guilty to distributing child exploitation material

A 19-year-old has been held for months behind bars and faces the prospect of a life-changing child sex conviction despite claiming his young girlfriend ‘lied’ about her age.

A 19-year-old man living in the sunny Whitsundays has admitted to making child exploitation material with a child under 16.

A Whitsunday region man who filmed and distributed a sex tape with his under-16 girlfriend said she had lied about her age — but never claimed to be an adult.

The 19 year old faced the Proserpine Magistrates Court after spending 100 days in custody following his arrest in 2023.

Prosecutor Sergeant David Barnes said the man was in a relationship with a female under 16 and had sexual intercourse with her in 2023.

Sergeant Barnes told the court he had filmed them having sex before distributing it online on the same day.

Magistrate Michelle Howard asked the prosecutor whether the man knew she was under the age of 16 at the time of their relationship after she read the facts.

Sergeant Barnes said the prosecution admitted the man had always maintained that he did not know her real age prior to being told by police officers.

She had allegedly told him she was 17.

He was himself a victim of sexual abuse

PD Law solicitor Terry Gray told the court the man had been in a romantic relationship with the female and the sexual intercourse had been consensual in nature.

Mr Gray also referred to the mental health court liaison report that confirmed the man was diagnosed with various mental health conditions.

He was unable to take medication to treat his medical conditions at the time as he was homeless, Mr Gray added.

He also mentioned in front of the court that the man had been a victim of sexual abuse earlier in his life.

Magistrate needs more time to consider sentence

Sergeant Barnes presented two comparative cases before the court, with the first one from 2012 that he considered more serious than the present case and the second one from 2007, that he considered less serious.

Mr Barnes told the court in both cases a period of imprisonment had been imposed.

He reminded Magistrate Howard of the court’s role to impose “strong deterrents” in cases like these, but that the man mostly needed “strong supervision”.

“He needs to be talking to someone about what he’s done and the seriousness of it,” Sergeant Barnes said.

Mr Gray told the court the man had been able to see a counsellor every two weeks since his arrest, and a referral to a psychotherapist was in process.

He told Ms Howard probation was appropriate in this case as he was “unlikely to commit a similar offence again”.

The Whitsundays pleaded guilty in front of the Proserpine Magistrates court to taking part in illegal sexual intercourse with a child under 16, to distribute child exploitation material and to owning child exploitation material.

Ms Howard told the court she was indecisive as to what sentence she should impose and said she wanted to be given more time to review the comparative cases presented before the court.

Originally published as Whitsundays man pleads guilty to distributing child exploitation material