A former Darwin fire chief has pleaded guilty to possessing child abuse material, including videos of children performing sexual acts that one investigating officer said was the worst she’d ever seen.
Andrew Stenhouse, 58, was found by Australian Federal Police and NT Police with eight videos on a hard drive that showed children between the ages of six and 10 performing a range of sexual acts with adults and other children.
One of the videos was rated in the worst category of child abuse material while the other seven were rated the second most severe.
“Viewing the files was difficult for investigators; file one was bad in particular, and an investigator described it as the worst example of child abuse material she’d ever seen,” said Crown Prosecutor David Dalrymple.
The court heard Stenhouse told police in an interview that he was watching the videos because he was curious, and using them as a distraction from his personal and health problems.
“I’ve tried to seek some assistance… I wasn’t watching them for perverse or sexual gratification, it was more a distraction to get my mind of other things,” Mr Dalrymple said Stenhouse told police.
“It was just a curiosity, a morbid curiosity.”
‘A family man through and through’
Stenhouse’s lawyer said he was a “family man through and through” and had worked as an aviation firefighter for 33 years in Darwin, during which time he served as fire commander.
“The orientation to being a family man has compounded his shame and remorse for his offending, and the heavy impact that he has witnessed of his conduct on his family and friends of which he is deeply ashamed,” said defence lawyer Jodi Truman.
“This wasn’t an overnight sensation… it was incremental; it took time and commenced in 2011, when he was diagnosed with low testosterone.”
Ms Truman told the court that Stenhouse’s health problems included being diagnosed with a high level of PFOS — a controversial firefighting foam currently being investigated for its effect on the environment and water supplies near RAAF bases around the country.
“That terrified Stenhouse and his family… it remains unclear what the consequences are [of PFOS exposure], but the unfortunate result of that discovery was that in March 2013 he couldn’t continue with testosterone therapy because it placed stress on his liver,” Ms Truman said.
“The unknown of PFOS exposure and unknown of low testosterone was having an impact on his relationship.”
Videos downloaded from peer-to-peer sharing site
The court heard Stenhouse downloaded the videos using a peer-to-peer sharing site, which enables users to download a vast range of files for free and spruiks its “forced child porn” filter.
“Stenhouse admits he utilised this service to gain material subject of the charges,” said Ms Truman.
In sentencing submissions, Ms Truman also said Stenhouse possessed eight files, which is much less than the thousands often possessed by child abuse offenders.
But Justice Peter Barr said the videos were still of the most serious nature.
“One video is a category five, which is at the top of the apex… it is quite unusual in that context,” he said.
The prosecution didn’t accept that the amount accessed was small, despite only charging him for possessing eight videos.
“We can’t prove how much he accessed but we don’t accept that the amount accessed was small,” said Mr Dalrymple.
The matter was adjourned until Friday when Stenhouse is due to be sentenced.