The offender was sentenced following pleas of guilty to 1 count of possessing or controlling child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service contrary to s 474.22A of the Commonwealth Criminal Code, 1 count of using carriage service to access child abuse material contrary to s 474.22(1) of the Commonwealth Criminal Code, 3 counts of using carriage service to transmit child pornography material contrary to s 474.19(1), 1 count of using carriage service to produce child abuse material, with the intention that the material be used by another person to commit an offence against 474.22 Commonwealth Criminal Code contrary to s 474.23(1) of the Commonwealth Criminal Code, and 1 count of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material to themselves contrary to s 474.22(1) of the Commonwealth Criminal Code. An additional carriage service offence was taken into account under s 16BA.
Nature and Circumstances: Offending spanned from the low range to the high range of objective seriousness for each offence. Possessing, accessing, transmitting, soliciting and producing child abuse material is pernicious offending exploiting the most vulnerable members of the community and feeds a worldwide market for such material. The offender’s submission that the offending in count 1 was unsophisticated in that it involved the use of an encrypted messaging application is not accepted. All of the offending exhibited a high degree of moral culpability, and was morally reprehensible conduct. Offending conduct spanned 6 years and 4 months. A significant feature of much of the offending was the brutality and degradation either discussed or inflicted upon extremely young victims and offender’s articulated enthusiasm for the brutality and evidence involved. Offending constituted ongoing offending and escalated over time to the 6-month period of offending in 2021.
Rehabilitation: Offender has expressed sincere remorse and contrition for offending and further has demonstrated insight into it as reported by psychologist. Offender has provided investigators with access to their phone and participated in a voluntary recorded interview in which they made admissions in relation to being the sole user of the mobile phone and the various social media apps thereon. Offender has responded well to treatment by psychologist. Offender has expressed a willingness to embrace the treatment plan outlines by psychologist and has amended their lifestyle so as to diminish their criminogenic risk factors.
Mental Condition: The offender was abused on multiple occasions between the ages of 8 and 11 years by members of their extended family. As a survivor of child sexual abuse the offender was at a greater risk of engaging in risky sexual behaviours. The offender suffers symptoms of a Major Depressive Order, Generalised Anxiety Disorder and Alcohol Use Disorder. There is a causal relationship between the offender’s depression and anxiety and their offending behaviour.
Offender sentenced to 4 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 2 years.
