Former NT Police officer Jared Porch sentenced in child abuse material case

Former NT Police officer and firefighter Jared Porch has been sentenced for a spate of child abuse material offences, including bribing a man to film his six-year-old child in the shower.

Former NT Police officer Jared Porch has plead guilty to a spate of child abuse material offences in Alice Springs Supreme Court.

A former Northern Territory cop will face at least 18 months in prison for a spate of child abuse material offences spanning 16 months in Alice Springs.

Jared Porch appeared before Justice Judith Kelly in Alice Springs Supreme Court on Friday for sentencing.

Porch plead guilty on Wednesday to 12 different charges of transmitting, procuring, soliciting and possessing child abuse material.

Prior to sentencing, Justice Kelly discussed the events leading up to Porch’s arrest and the nature of his offending.

Former NT Police officer Jared Porch used his own name, the pseudonym Whitey Whitey or the name of a fictional woman, Paige Oakes, to engage in Facebook messenger conversations.

She said Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team detectives, acting on information provided by the United States National Centre for Exploited and Missing Children and by Facebook, executed a search warrant on Porch in Alice Springs in November 2021.

Police found a number of devices which Porch confirmed were his own containing child abuse material, and he was arrested and taken to Alice Springs courthouse.

Porch resigned from the police force following his arrest.

On the devices, police found a large number of Facebook messenger chats, where Porch spoke to Aboriginal, Fijian and Papua New Guinean men, using either his own name, the pseudonym Whitey Whitey or the name of a fictional woman Paige Oakes.

Justice Kelly said during the course of these conversations, Porch would send and receive child abuse material.

During these chats he would also request the person he was talking to bring a child into the video chat or involve the child in sexual acts.

He would occasionally ask the person he was talking to to find a child, with the view to then engage them in a sexual act with either the fictional character Paige Oakes or the person he was talking to.

On three separate occasions, Porch succeeded in convincing another man to perform sexually explicit acts in front of his six-year-old son in exchange for money.

This included one occasion in which Porch convinced the man, who Justice Kelly referred to as DH, to rest a child’s arm on his erection, and another occasion in which Porch convinced the man to film his child in the shower.

Justice Kelly said there were six or seven images altogether, a number of videos, and 40 different identified people who were involved in the grooming, procuring and attempted procuring process.

In her sentencing, Justice Kelly said Mr Porch was involved in the corruption and exploitation of Aboriginal people with whom he lived and worked with.

Justice Kelly said Porch had no prior convictions, was not subject to any physical, emotional or sexual abuse as a child, was a firefighter for three years, and had joined the NT Police Force in 2019, receiving several promotions.

She said she had received a character reference from a family friend and a letter from Porch expressing great remorse.

Justice Kelly said the possession of child abuse material was a serious offence, with the production of child abuse involving the actual abuse of children.

“Courts of Appeal have said a number of times, that unless there are extraordinary circumstances that immediate imprisonment is usually warranted, and I do not consider these circumstances to be extraordinary,” she said.

“I agree with the Crown submission that the offending was persistent and significant over a significant period, from July 2020 to November 2021, and that it only ceased on police intervening.

“Now at all times during this offending you were a serving Territory police officer, and I agree that increases your moral culpability in the offending.

“The offending involved corruption and exploitation of Aboriginal people among whom you lived and worked.

“And you must have at all times been cognisant of the commonwealth intervention and the general concern expressed within the community about sexual exploitation of Aboriginal children.”

Taking into account Porch did not possess many images, that he had pleaded guilty, and that he had expressed genuine remorse, Justice Kelly reduced sentencing by 25 per cent to four years and nine months imprisonment from March 20, 2023.

In fixing bail Justice Kelly took into account the overcrowded conditions of Alice Springs Prison, a lack of availability of appropriate courses, and the fact that given the nature of the offences and Porch’s former position as a police officer he was likely to spend all or most of his time in prison in protection.

The non-parole period was fixed at 18 months.

Originally published as Former NT Police officer Jared Porch sentenced in child abuse material case