Prison for man over child porn, bestiality possession: Mum’s house was raided by police

A Northern Tasmanian man was living with his mother when police raided it and seized his laptop, finding hundreds of photos and videos of child exploitation and bestiality material. READ THE COURT DETAILS >>

• ‘It doesn’t appear at this time that the speed of the cars was involved’
• CBD manhunt underway: Stolen ute crashed into 4WD after running red light trying to evade police

A Northern man has been sent to prison over possession of child porn and bestiality material after police raided his mother’s Chudleigh home and seized his laptop.

Police found 152 images and 104 videos of child exploitation material when they analysed 26-year-old William Grattan Cole’s computer.

Cole was 23 years old and living with his mother at the time and police searched the residence for “unrelated reasons”.

Of the prohibited material found, 62 videos and eight images were deemed category four material – showing sex between adults and children.

Six videos depicted bestiality.

Cole appeared in the Supreme Court in Burnie on Wednesday for sentencing.

He had previously pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child exploitation material and one count of possession of bestiality material.

Justice Robert Pearce said Cole declined to be interviewed by police after his arrest, but co-operated by providing the password to his computer.

He said Cole had no prior convictions related to child pornography, but had been sentenced in 2018 for the indecent assault of a child in 2014.

“That conviction is relevant because it suggests a sexual interest in children, and a need to deter you from acting on that interest,” Justice Pearce said.

“It is now well recognised that child pornography offences put children everywhere at risk of grave sexual abuse by encouraging the creation of child pornography.

“The children depicted in the material you possessed are real victims. They suffer terrible harm. It is not possible to count the number of children depicted in this case, but there must have been many.”

Burnie Supreme and Magisterial Courts.

A pre-sentence report showed Cole had longstanding mental health problems compounded by alcohol and illicit substance abuse.

Justice Pearce said Cole was diagnosed with schizophrenia after displaying psychotic symptoms when he began to use cannabis in 2016.

“The deterioration in your personal circumstances continued in 2018 when you were asked to leave your mother’s house, and since then your accommodation has been unstable.”

Cole’s mental health was managed by Community Mental Health as part of supervision ordered by a magistrate in 2018, but Justice Pearce said it went downhill when the supervision ceased and he began using methamphetamine in 2019.

He said it was not submitted that Cole’s mental health affected his moral culpability for his crime and the author of the pre sentence report was not satisfied Cole would comply with any order he made.

Justice Pearce said Cole’s guilty plea indicated “some contrition and acceptance of responsibility”, but said no sentence other than imprisonment was appropriate to ensure adequate punishment and deterrence.

Cole was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment from May 25, 2020 with six months suspended for 18 months from his release and ordered his laptop be forfeited to the state.

His name will be placed on the child sex offenders register for four years from his release from prison.