pre-series wincest = child pornography?

[hope]

Man escapes jail over child-sex fantasy note
The West Australian, October 27, 2006
RYAN PEDLER

A Perth man who wrote an explicit note detailing a sexual fantasy he had about his partner’s nine-year-old grand-daughter has been convicted of possessing child pornography but avoided being jailed.

The man received a rare non-custodial sentence for the offence after State prosecutor Sean Stocks conceded jailing him was not appropriate because no children had been harmed as a result of his actions.

Chief District Court Judge Antoinette Kennedy placed the 50-yearold man, who is not named to protect the identity of the girl, on an 18-month intensive supervision order.

The man’s conviction also automatically resulted in him being placed on the sex offenders register, which means he must keep authorities informed of where he is living and report regularly for at least the next eight years.

The man was living with his de facto of 15 years when he hand-wrote a half-page note last year describing a sexual fantasy he had about her grand-daughter, who had visited and slept over at his home.

He threw the note in a bin at his home early this year and the girl’s mother discovered it by chance when she was searching through rubbish in the bin for an unrelated reason. She contacted police.

The man, who is still with his partner, admitted writing the note and told police he was disgusted with what he had written. He later pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography in the form of a story.

In sentencing submissions this week, Mr Stocks said even though the man had not shown the note to anyone, it was still an offence.

“Possession of child pornography includes possession of an article and an article includes written material,” he said.

Mr Stocks said possessing child pornography was considered an extremely serious offence because the demand for it drove people to produce it and, in the process, abuse children. But he said that principle did not apply in this case because no child had been harmed.

Defence lawyer Simon Freitag told the court he believed the girl was unaware of the note the man wrote. The man was willing to undergo counselling.

Judge Kennedy told the man that if he reoffended in the next 18 months he would be resentenced for the offence.