By Elizabeth Byrne
Warning: This story contains details of child sex offences which may distress some audience members.
A Canberra grandfather has been sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court to more than 15 years in jail after pleading guilty to a series of child sex offences, including against his own granddaughter.
The 57-year-old pleaded guilty to six offences including possessing and sharing child abuse material on the internet, grooming a child online overseas, and persistent child sex abuse against his two-year-old granddaughter.
The court heard police found a gallery of nearly 900 separate images on his devices, as well as a document titled The Paedophile’s Handbook.
Acting ACT Supreme Court Judge Michael Elkaim said the content of the material was abhorrent as he outlined the details, including how the man had paid money to people overseas to groom a young child.
‘Shattered every aspect of her life’
In her victim impact statement, the offender’s daughter told the court she had no contact with her father for a number of years, but that changed when she fell ill and needed help.
“I was vulnerable,” the woman told the court.
She said she had accepted help from her father because she had formed the view at the time that life was too short to hold onto the past, and she told herself he had changed.
The woman told the court her now four-year-old daughter was burdened with fear and confusion, and had been robbed of her innocence and joy in life.
She asked the court to impose a sentence which would protect other families from her father.
‘Offences graphic and depraved’
The court heard evidence that the man suffers from PTSD, depression and anxiety.
“I accept he has significant mental health problems,” Acting Justice Elkaim said.
“I do not accept these problems in any way excuse his conduct.”
The man told one pre-sentence report author his actions were “wrong and stupid”.
“He is right,” Acting Justice Elkaim said.
Acting Justice Elkaim said the sentence must be harsh.
“The offences were extensive, graphic and depraved,” he said.
The man was sentenced to 15 years, nine months and 26 days in jail, and he won’t be eligible for parole until 2034.