Paedophile jailed again over images

A 41-YEAR-OLD Hobart paedophile who unsuccessfully attempted to destroy a laptop computer containing child exploitation material during a home visit by parole officers has been jailed.

Repeat offender Kerry Leigh Large pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to one count of possessing child exploitation material last year.

Yesterday, the court heard Large was on a 12-month probation order after serving a prison term for child pornography offences when officers visited last September.

After officers issued a formal direction for Large to reveal the contents of a laptop in his possession, he tried to destroy the device by breaking it and throwing it in the bin.

Officers left with the remains of the computer, with Large later supplying police with his password and a battery charger for the device.

The court heard many of the offending files on the laptop were copied from images for which Large was sent to prison in 2013 and he had stored on computer disks left at his mother’s home.

Acting Justice David Porter said there were more than 800 images but some were duplicates and none were in the worst category of child exploitation material.

But Acting Justice Porter said Large had history of sexual offending, with lengthy jail terms for both the indecent assault and rape of young girls.

The court heard at the time of being charged, Large was the subject of a 30-year reporting order under Tasmania’s sex offenders register laws.

Acting Justice Porter said there was a need for a deterrent sentence, both personal and general. He said the evils of child exploitation material were well documented, because its consumption encouraged production.

Large was sentenced to 15 months in prison, backdated to December 27 last year. He was ordered to serve 10 months of that term before being eligible for parole.

Acting Justice Porter placed Large’s name on the sex offender’s register for eight years, cumulative to his current order.