By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A 27-year-old man from Officer has been jailed after being found with a vast stash of “abhorrent sexual abuse” images of pre-pubescent children and infants.
Dale Geoffrey Coates pleaded guilty at Victorian County Court to using a carriage service to access child abuse material, as well as possessing the material and a small amount of cannabis.
In sentencing on 3 April, Judge Amanda Chambers said the images and videos depicted “horrific exploitation” and “abhorrent sexual abuse of children”.
Some victims aged up to six were physically restrained, crying and trying to get away from their adult abusers.
In May 2022, police raided Coates’s home discovering 17,579 files on six devices.
More than 11,000 were in the most serious category of sexual abuse. The bulk were stored in a folder labelled ‘playground’.
Coates told police he’d started accessing the material from a Kik messaging app during Covid lockdowns – a time when his apprenticeship was cancelled.
When “banned” from Kik, he used an Android emulator to “bypass the ban” and “download Kik through that”.
Coates claimed he was “intrigued” by the “taboo nature” of child abuse material but didn’t watch it for sexual gratification.
He was trying to build up a “portfolio or collection”, he told police.
“I thought I was … doing something that no one can, and it’s that feeling that was making me keep doing it.”
Judge Chambers said it was a “very serious” example of the offence – noting the “substantial” collection of category-1 images and victims.
Possessing such material played a significant role in the pervasive online market, she noted.
Coates was not to blame for the case’s “significant” delay, which was a “powerful” mitigating factor.
The case caused him considerable anxiety and hung over his head for three years since making frank admissions, Judge Chambers noted.
His early guilty plea, cooperation with police, remorse and shame, his otherwise clean criminal record, strong work history and young age at the time of offending were also mitigatory.
Despite counselling, however, he was yet to develop “true insight” into his offending – and required further treatment, Judge Chambers said.
His sentence must send an “unequivocal” message to deter like-minded offenders, the judge said.
Coates was jailed for 30 months – but released after 12 months on a recognizance release order.
The RRO – a good-behaviour bond with a $1000 security – runs for three years. It includes supervision and a sex-offender program.
He must report as a registered sex offender for 15 years.
