No jail for Tasmanian man found with 14 child porn videos

A 28-year-old former supermarket worker won’t go to prison for possessing child porn videos, with Chief Justice Alan Blow explaining why he spared him a jail term.

A TASMANIAN judge says there’s “no suggestion” a former supermarket employee found with 14 child porn videos on his computer is attracted to pre-pubescent girls.

Damir Huskic, 28, avoided a stint in jail after being sentenced by the Supreme Court of Tasmania in Burnie on February 3 given the “small” amount of material seized by police and because he is “now very remorseful”.

“The worst material was in category 4, including the depiction of penetrative activity either between children or between adults and children,” Chief Justice Alan Blow said.

Huskic pleaded guilty to accessing and possessing child exploitation material after police searched his home when they discovered he’d been downloading the files from the internet.

He told police he’d started watching adult pornography as an adolescent and had more recently moved onto child porn – but usually deleted the material straight away.

Huskic co-operated with police, taking part in an interview and making admissions, saying he accessed child porn every few months but knew it was wrong and was aware children were harmed by the exploitation.

“He said it made him sick to think about it,” Chief Justice Blow said.

The judge said Huskic came to Australia as a refugee aged 11, and had been employed at a supermarket for 10 years before suffering a knee injury – and was now financially dependent on his wife.

Chief Justice Blow also said there was “no suggestion he’s attracted to pre-pubescent girls”, is “now very remorseful” and there was no evidence he was mentally ill, although the judge noted he had an extensive history of drug use.

“I don’t think this is a case that warrants a period of imprisonment,” he said.

Huskic was convicted on both charges and given a 12-month community correction order, during which he must submit to the supervision of a probation officer and undergo 70 hours of community service.

Huskic’s name was also added to the sex offenders’ register for four years.