John Michael Toye sent another pedophile child abuse material while on good behaviour bond

A man jailed after a two-year international police probe into child abuse material was on a good behaviour bond when his actions landed him back in court.

A convicted child sexual offender had been recently released from prison when he sent a sexually explicit video of a child to another man and discussed “fantasy content of young girls”, a court has heard.

John Michael Toye, 43, appeared in the District Court for sentencing submissions on Thursday after pleading guilty to one count each of possessing, disseminating and producing child exploitation material.

In front of Judge Anthony Allen, prosecution said the “only available option” was immediate jail for the Salisbury man.

“Notwithstanding the low quantity of material found, the material itself is still objectively serious,” they said. “The nature of the material depicts a level of moral turpitude and depravity.

“With regards to the offence of dissemination of child exploitation material … the defendant sent a video to a third party. Once again, notwithstanding it is just one video, the director submits that in doing so the defendant is contributing towards – and perpetuating – the market for child exploitation material.

Toye faced court for submissions on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

“Ultimately, these are far from being victimless crimes – the child victims are subjected to degrading and humiliating acts, of course, and the Court of Appeal in the state has repeatedly emphasised the need for deterrent penalties in order to protect the community – and in particular, children.”

Toye was first jailed in 2022 after he was one of 11 South Australian men arrested through Operation Molto – a two-year international initiative targeting purveyors of child exploitation material.

He was sentenced to one year, four months and seven days imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 10 months, backdated to December, 2021.

He was released from prison and ordered to enter into a good behaviour bond – during which the court heard he spent time at Owenia House, which runs programs to help rehabilitate offenders and reduce sexual assaults.

During that stay Toye’s personal “problems all came home to roost”, his defence counsel told the court.

“What we submit is that the offending really constitutes an expression of that failure of his coping strategies,” they said.

“I’m asking Your Honour to protect the community and allow my client to be rehabilitated by allowing for a longer period of time on parole. My client wants to be rehabilitated – he doesn’t like what he’s done, he’s not proud of what he’s done, he’s ashamed of it and he doesn’t want to do it again.”

Judge Allen said Toye “clearly has a sexual interest in children” and remanded him back into custody to face court next month for sentencing.

Originally published as John Michael Toye sent another pedophile child abuse material while on good behaviour bond