SALE resident Dean Barnes is now a registered sex offender after pleading guilty to charges related to child abuse material, but will not go to jail.
As reported by ABC Gippsland, 35-year-old Barnes appeared in the Latrobe Valley County Court on Thursday, February 9, where he pleaded guilty to 18 charges and was convicted for all of them. He was sentenced to 14 months in jail, but the ABC says he was “released immediately on recognisance”.
While Barnes has avoided jail, he has been subjected to reporting obligations for life.
Judge John Smallwood said he accepted that Barnes held “very deep shame and very deep remorse”, that he had already sought professional help and had good potential for rehabilitation.
Barnes used online messaging platform Kik to request images and videos of individuals he believed were children. Conversations took place between February 1 2020 and May 14 2021. The victims presented as male teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17.
According to a prosecution’s summary, it was not clear what age most of the individuals were when Barnes tried to get photos and images from them, and it wasn’t confirmed to be child abuse material.
Judge Smallwood said he accepted that the “depraved” comments Barnes had made on Kik were not targeting underage males and he did not attempt to meet up with them in real life.
“You said you had exactly the same interaction with them as you did with the adults,” Judge Smallwood said.
“The fact remains they presented as underage and there’s nothing to suggest you didn’t believe that.”
One of the charges was for possessing child abuse material, with 362 files across two mobile phones – which included sexualised content of teenage boys.
Judge Smallwood said aside from the possessing child abuse material charge, he couldn’t “be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt” that there was a victim for the other charges Barnes was convicted for.
“It’s your intention that you’ve been sentenced for,” Judge Smallwood said.
A psychiatrist’s report said an ADHD medication Barnes had used was a “significant contributory factor” for his actions. Judge Smallwood didn’t dispute that it may have played a part, but rejected any strong significance.
“There’s a difference between having hypersexuality and engaging in these sorts of conversations with people you believe to be under the age of 18 or 16,” he said.
