Barrister Mark Dennis hit with ‘very disturbing’ child abuse material charges

A prominent Sydney barrister has been arrested as he stepped off a flight from Cambodia and charged with serious and “very disturbing” child abuse material offences, a court has been told.

Mark Dennis SC, 65, has been charged with allegedly taking part in “chats” about sexual activity with young boys and was allegedly in possession of one image of a young boy, a court was told on Wednesday.

Mr Dennis appeared in Bail Court on Wednesday where his barrister successfully argued for his release, with the court hearing that his legal practice would be wound up after his arrest.

He was arrested at Sydney International Airport on Monday after arriving on a flight from Cambodia.

Australian Border Force officers intercepted Mr Dennis and examined his luggage and it’s alleged that child abuse material and “sexualised conversations with and about minors” was found on his phone.

Police seized his electronic devices and raided his Leichhardt home.

He has been charged with possessing child abuse material and two counts of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material.

He was also charged with one count of intentionally importing prohibited goods.

He is yet to enter any plea to any charges.

He appeared in Bail Court via videolink from Surry Hills Police Station wearing a grey jumper and glasses and sporting a shaved head and moustache.

His release on bail was opposed by prosecutors, who cited the risk of interference with evidence and the safety of the community.

Commonwealth prosecutor Jon Kisch said there was “an indication of an awareness around laws and consent and a willingness to subvert those laws.”

Mr Kisch told the court that material captured by the AFP included an image of a young boy who was described as being “aged six to 10 years”.

He said the chats, which Mr Dennis is alleged to have been involved in, were “very disturbing”.

“The chat themselves, Your Honour, are disturbing and, I won’t go into it, but describe sexual situations with persons under the age of 16 … a description of potentially a desire to rape a 16-year-old,” Mr Kisch told the court.

The court heard that the image of the boy was found in a Dropbox folder, which was also connected to other devices.

Mr Dennis’ barrister, Michael Burke, told the court that it was not alleged that he had forwarded the image to anyone.

Mr Burke said while “unsavoury things … are said in those one-on-one conversations”, there was a real question as to the “strength of the prosecution case” and as to whether the conversations meet the definition of the offending.

“Mr Dennis will be immediately ceasing practice in the foreseeable future as a barrister,” Mr Burke said.

“So his compliance with stringent bail conditions aren’t going to be undermined in any way by him continuing to undertake that work in the foreseeable future.”

Mr Burke argued that his client had a clean criminal record.

Mr Dennis was granted bail on a string of conditions including that he report to police five days a week, hand over his passport and not enter any airport or international point of departure.

He is also not allowed to contact anyone under 16 years of age, use social media or access the internet.

Mr Dennis will appear in court again in March.