Devonport man Aiden Jack Binnie sentenced for child abuse material possession charges

A young Tasmanian man who pleaded guilty to possessing almost 8000 images and videos of child abuse material featuring babies and infants has been sentenced.

A NORTH-WEST Tasmanian man charged after police found him in possession of almost 8000 images and videos of child abuse material featuring babies and infants has been sentenced.

Aiden Jack Binnie, 20, of Devonport, appeared via video link yesterday in the Supreme Court in Hobart before Justice Stephen Estcourt, having pleaded guilty to child abuse material possession offences and bestiality offences.

The charges followed a 10-month investigation by the Australian Federal Police and Tasmanian Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team.

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The court heard 7970 images and videos of child abuse material were found in Binnie’s possession on various devices, including those depicting sexual intercourse between adults and children, as well as 27 bestiality products.

The vast majority of the child abuse images featured female babies and infants being subjected to “horrific abuse”, Justice Estcourt said.

Defence lawyer Kirsten Abercrombie had said Binnie primarily grew up with his mother, and his father had been sent to prison when Binnie was a child, also for child exploitation-related charges.

The court heard Binnie, who had been diagnosed with autism, had been exposed to child abuse material for the first time when he was eight years old, by his father, and this had “desensitised him” to it.

Justice Estcourt said possessing child abuse material was a “very serious crime”, and he gave less weight to Binnie’s young age because of the seriousness of the “extremely troubling” material.

“Children suffer appallingly in the production of these types of material,” Justice Estcourt said.

“Demand of that material perpetuates this abuse.”

Binnie was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 20 months in prison but, after serving 10 months, he can be released on reconnaissance of $5000 if he is of good behaviour.

The sentence was backdated to December 19, 2019, when Binnie was first taken into custody, which means he could be released in four months’ time.

His name will be placed on the child sex offender’s register for five years after his release.