A DUBBO photographer who attempted to swap child abuse images online and had extensive amounts of child pornography in his home could walk free from jail in 10 months time.
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Gregory Maxwell Marginson, a prominent figure in the Dubbo arts scene and former manager of Dundullimal Homestead, was sentenced to a total of 15 months in jail on Friday after he was convicted of soliciting child porn and possessing it.
The District Court heard the maximum penalty which could have been imposed was 10 years imprisonment for the possession offence and 15 years imprisonment for the solicitation offence.
Marginson, who also previously took photos for a Dubbo media outlet and played a part in organising many community events, looked at the ground as Judge Philip Ingram handed down his judgement.
After he took into account the opinions of experts who assessed Marginson after police charged him, Judge Ingram said the court accepted the 61-year-old had good prospects of rehabilitation.
Judge Ingram accepted the findings of various which reports, which concluded Marginson was unaware his interest in children was wrong and was unlikely to commit any physical sexual violence.
"Gross depravity" was a phrase Judge Ingram used multiple times to describe the child abuse material found in Marginson's home.
He said one of the pieces of material Marginson had stored on an electronic device contained the suggested depiction of an incestuous relationship between a father and child.
While there was "tension" over the exact amount of child abuse content found in Marginson's possession, Judge Ingram said as many as 600 pieces of material may have existed on the password protected devices Marginson stored his child porn on.
The court heard some of the content Marginson used for his own sexual pleasure contained young girls dressed in lingerie wearing high heels and other details too graphic for the Daily Liberal to disclose.
Judge Ingram said the court accepted Marginson was of prior good character, remorseful and did not have any relevant criminal record before he police arrested him.
The Judge also said Marginson's actions created and perpetuated a demand for child abuse material.
When he spoke at a sentencing hearing on April 17, Marginson admitted he was part of a child-abuse community and described his behaviour as "abhorrent".
"The sexual interest in children grew out of an interest in college girl fantasies," he said.
"It had been part of my life for a long time."
Some of the innocent children in the material Marginson possessed could be dead, he told the court.
"There are real people involved," he said.
"Some of them may not be alive today."
I've hidden a dark secret for a long time. It's an addiction. It's fantasy.
- Marginson told police in Decebember 2017
Marginson's fall from grace began in September 2017 after he sought to swap child porn with an undercover police operative in an online chatroom six weeks earlier.
During those conversations Marginson falsely claimed he had access to young girls because he coached a netball team and had an interest in a dance studio.
Those remarks indicated Marginson had a "high level of interest in the [child abuse] material," Judge Ingram said.
After police charged Marginson with the solicitation offence in December 2017, an analysis of numerous devices found in his home uncovered hundreds of images and an eight minute video that depicted child abuse.
A further child possession charge was then laid in March 2018.
"I've hidden a dark secret for a long time. It's an addiction. It's fantasy," Margin told police when they arrested him.
"Well that's the end of my life now... my hidden secret is out."
Because he entered guilty pleas at the first available opportunity, Marginson was afford a 25 per cent sentencing discount for each offence.
Judge Ingram sentenced Marginson to a total of 15 months in jail, with a non-parole period of 10 months which will make him eligible for parole in April 2020.
Detectives involved in the investigation into Marginson watched proceedings from the public gallery on Friday and said they could not comment on the verdict.