Man had pics of naked girl
A FORMER Geelong firefighter was sentenced to a jail term yesterday over disturbing child abuse offences.
Jamie William Lugg, 27, of Corio, was jailed for four months, but walked free after lodging an appeal against his sentence.
In 2018, while a volunteer firefighter with the Geelong West brigade, Lugg pressured a 16-year-old girl into forwarding nude images to him via Snapchat that he saved on his computer.
When police raided the home he shared with his wife, they uncovered naked images with the girl, along with 1858 examples of child abuse material on various devices.
Lugg pleaded guilty at Geelong Magistrates’ Court to involving a child in the production of child abuse material and possessing child abuse material.
Court documents seen by the Geelong Advertiser reveal Lugg had known the victim for several years before they began a consensual sexual relationship soon after she turned 16.
Her family became aware of the relationship and reported it to police.
The victim told officers she sent about 20 images to Lugg, which he said had been saved from his mobile phone onto his computer.
Police executed a search warrant at his home in February 2019 and seized laptop computers, hard drives, USBs and Lugg’s mobile phone.
A prosecution summary of the offending stated Lugg’s browsing history revealed he had been viewing sites containing child abuse material, which indicated “a clear proclivity toward young girls”.
Among the material were dozens of examples of childadult penetration.
The court heard Lugg quit his role with the Geelong West fire brigade in October 2018.
Until recently, Lugg was also involved as a committee member with the Geelong Lego User Group.
In a web post, the group said Lugg had left the group voluntarily.
Magistrate Franz Holzer said Lugg’s offending involved a breach of trust and such crimes caused “profound impacts” to the young victims.
He sentenced Lugg to a four-month jail term to be followed immediately by a twoyear community correction order.
Lugg was also put on the sex offenders’ register for 15 years.
Lugg lodged an appeal and was granted bail. As part of his bail conditions, Lugg must surrender his passport and not attend any international point of departure.
His appeal will be heard at the County Court on a later date.