Man jailed over child exploitation material

WHEN a Toowoomba man failed to comply with his reporting duties, police raided his home and found he was still engaging in abhorrent child exploitation material crimes online.

Toowoomba District Court was told Newtown man Clay William Barden had a long history of making, distributing and possessing child exploitation material which included images of babies and young children.

Judge Paul Smith said the 30-year-old had breached a court order by committing further offences in 2022 when he sent an anime image of a prepubescent girl in an act with a man to another man on WhatsApp.

Judge Smith said five days later, the same man had told Barden he was about to sexually abuse a 14-year-old girl in a toilet block, and Barden tried to get the man to send him the footage. The court was told police also found a very detailed story Barden had written about the graphic abuse of a 13-year-old girl.

There was no evidence of the sexual assaults occurring.

The court was told police raided his Newtown home after he failed to comply with his reporting duties and found the incriminating messages on a device.

Defence barrister Dan Boddice said Barden had no access to sex offending programs in the prison he was in, nor had he completed any in the past.

Mr Boddice said the former Coffee Club and IGA worker had suicidal idolisations and had been self-harming.

Barden had told his legal team he grew up in a dysfunctional household and was bullied in high school for being gay.

Mr Boddice said Barden could not explain why he kept accessing child exploitation material and that he suffered from mental illness, including borderline personality disorder.

Barden pleaded guilty to two charges of transmitting child abuse material and soliciting child abuse material.

Judge Smith told Barden his offending was serious and he had a “significant problem”.

Barden was sentenced to a five-year prison sentence, with a fixed non-parole period of 13 months. The 270 days Barden spent in pre-sentence custody was declared as time served.