A Dubbo man has been released on a good behaviour bond despite being found guilty of downloading child pornography on a computer that was accessed by young children.
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Charles Bryan Tupetaiki Campbell was handed a suspended sentence of 18 months after pleading guilty to producing, disseminating or possessing child abuse material in Dubbo Local Court yesterday.
Campbell, the director of an education centre at Dubbo, was arrested in February. After initially being held in custody, he was released on bail with strict conditions.
Facts tendered to the court during Campbell's trial said the centre he managed catered for students aged from 5 to 21.
A 15-year-old boy who received tutoring at the centre was working on one of the computers when he stumbled on a link to a video of a young Asian boy. He closed the link and said nothing but police were informed later and an investigation began.
On February 13, Campbell voluntarily attended Dubbo Police Station where he made a number of admissions about viewing pornography on computers at the centre.
He gave police permission to access computers and storage devices at the centre and his home, where they seized a large amount of equipment.
At 5.30pm on February 14, Campbell was arrested by police at his house. According to prosecution facts, Campbell gave a recorded interview where he full admitted to downloading and possessing child abuse material.
The 56-year-old told police he felt compelled and had been downloading child abuse material from the internet since the late 1990s.
Under the terms of the sentence, Campbell has to appear before the court if called upon during the term of the bond and to accept supervision and comply with all reasonable direction of the Probation and Parole Service.
He is also required to report to Probation and Parole at Dubbo Community Corrections District Office within seven days.