A Kimberley man has been sentenced to five years behind bars for possessing thousands of images and videos of child exploitation and distributing some of that material on chat groups online.
Warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual crimes, including child exploitation, that readers may find disturbing.
The man in his 50s, who the ABC cannot identify for legal reasons, was sentenced in a West Australian District Court on Monday.
In January, he pleaded guilty to five counts of possessing child exploitation material and one count of distributing child exploitation material.
Police executed a search warrant at properties in the Kimberley in October last year, where they seized the man’s devices including a mobile phone, desktop computer, hard drives and an SD card.
More than 20,000 images of child exploitation were found on one of the devices.
The court heard the possession of child exploitation material took place over a decade and the distribution occurred over a 10-month period.
‘Depraved’ material
State Prosecutor Daniel McDonald told the court the man shared child exploitation material in online community chat groups, including one with hundreds of members.
“He wasn’t simply receiving but was really very actively involved in the distribution of material — clearly he was very well connected in this community,” he said.
Mr McDonald said some of the material received and sent by the man included videos of children being sexually penetrated and children appearing to be filmed with a spy camera.
The man’s defence lawyer Justine Fisher told the court her client had been sexually abused as a child, with a psychological report finding he had unresolved post-traumatic stress disorder.
Lawyer Justine Fisher, pictured here at a different court case, represented the man on Monday. (ABC News: David Weber)
Ms Fisher told the court her client had tried to seek help from a psychologist in his 20s regarding his trauma, which the practitioner allegedly dismissed.
The court heard the man had shown remorse after his arrest and sought professional help.
“We’re dealing with a man who has taken now genuine and sincere attempts to get help,” Ms Fisher said.
While Mr McDonald did accept the man’s childhood trauma, he argued it did not take away his legal culpability and labelled the material “highly explicit and depraved”.
“It’s one thing to possess explicit material for your own sexual gratification, it’s another thing to distribute that in the community,” he said.
‘Highest category’ offending, judge says
In her sentencing remarks, Judge Linda Black described the offences as “extremely serious” and considered them the “highest category” of that offending.
“The materials included young babies, significant acts of brutality and depravity that fell within what we call category one [child exploitation material],” she said.
Judge Black said the abuse the man suffered as a child reduced his “moral culpability”.
“[Your trauma] led to you growing up with a distorted perception of sexuality and how adults treated children,” she said.
Photos and videos of child abuse were found on the man’s devices. Generic image. (ABC Kimberley: Dunja Karagic )
Judge Black told the man that the material he possessed and distributed were of real children, who had their childhoods “destroyed”.
“While you are not to be punished for the physical acts [in the material] — thanks to you and people who have committed offences like you, this material is out there for the world to see,” she said.
“[The victims] are now being abused every single day when someone looks at a video and sends it to someone else.”
The man received a 45 per cent discount on his sentence, with the judge acknowledging his personal circumstances and early guilty plea.
Judge Black sentenced the man to a total of five years in prison.
He will be eligible for parole after he has served more than half of his sentence, in 2027.