A MAN who has pleaded guilty to multiple child pornography and bestiality charges yesterday told Dubbo District Court he was not sexually attracted to children.
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Adam William Quelch appeared expressionless at he sat in the dock before Judge Gordon Lerve.
His parents were supported by a minister of religion as they anxiously observed proceedings from the public gallery.
Quelch, 40, was one of 11 people arrested in June last year following a nationwide investigation by the Australian Federal Police. He has been on remand in jail since August 10, 2011.
The court heard computers and external hard drives were seized from the home Quelch shared with his wife and children when police raided a sheep, cattle and cropping property located midway between Narrabri and Bingara.
The raid followed the detection of online activity by a covert police team in Canberra.
Quelch was prosecuted under state and Commonwealth child abuse legislation. Guilty pleas were entered to charges of accessing, possessing, producing, disseminating and making available child pornography.
The charges related to thousands of images of children, aged from one to 17 years. Judge Lerve was told the bulk of the images were of pre-pubescent children.
Quelch was also charged with seven counts of bestiality, involving dogs and horses, after investigators found computer images of sexual acts with animals.
The prosecution elected not to proceed with bestiality offences involving pigs and goats.
The court heard the bestiality offences, described in a psychiatrist's report as zoophilia, occurred on the family property "at different times of the day" over more than seven years.
The prosecution said Quelch took photographs and videos of acts with animals and stored the images on his computer.
Quelch told the court he accessed child pornography “by accident” during a computer search for “general pornography’’.
“After finding the (child abuse) images I was curious and looked for more.
“At the time I didn’t really think about what I was doing... I didn’t think about the exploitation or harm being caused to the children (in the pornographic photographs).
“I deeply regret what occurred. I am sorry for my actions and the impact on my family.’’
The court heard Quelch used the terms “jail bait” and “pre-teen hard core” to search for child pornography. He made 10 folders of child pornography available to other people through internet file sharing websites.
Quelch gave evidence that he did not think he was sexually attracted to children.
“I am working with a doctor about what has occurred and why,’’ he said.
Quelch’s 62-year-old father Edward gave evidence in support of his son. He pledged to do everything possible to provide assistance and supervision when (Adam) returned to the family property after his eventual release from jail.
Edward Quelch admitted he could not watch his son 24 hours a day but steps would be taken to “lock” computer access and (Adam) would not be permitted to work with stock alone.
Lengthy legal discussion was held about the level of criminality of each of the child pornography charges.
Judge Lerve said he needed time to consider sentencing. A decision will be handed down in the coming weeks.
