Paedophile allegedly distributed vile child abuse material around WA prison after being left with laptop

A career paedophile allegedly distributed pornography and suspected child sex abuse material around an Australian prison after he was left alone with a laptop in his cell so he could prepare for an upcoming trial.

And in a bizarre legal twist, the police investigation into the matter has been stymied by the sex offender’s claim of legal professional privilege over the laptop.

The embarrassing scandal at WA’s Casuarina prison was revealed only after prisoners blew the whistle on the 30-year-old pervert, who was first charged with sex offences when he was 16.

He has since continued to offend, specialising in grooming teenage girls and coercing them into sex by threatening to kill himself if they refused. Despite being a recidivist creep, he has never gone through a sex offender treatment program.

The Department of Justice is distancing itself from the matter because the paedophile, who is representing himself after being hit by fresh charges, was given permission to use the laptop and USBs by a judge.

The department was ordered by a court to afford the man complete privacy, meaning he was left alone in his cell for hours with huge amounts of porn and child abuse material that are part of the police case against him.

He allegedly loaded material onto several USBs delivered to him alongside the laptop and passed them on to other prisoners who viewed the images on jailhouse computers.

It is beyond belief that the abhorrent child sex abuse trade has been allowed to flourish in a WA prison under Roger Cook’s Government.

“The Department of Justice is aware of the matter, which has been referred to the WA Police Force for investigation,” a department spokesperson said.

It is understood the police inquiry has been hamstrung by the prisoner’s claim of legal professional privilege over the laptop because he is effectively his own lawyer.

The matter is now being argued in the courts.

Liberal leader Libby Mettam said the Government could not shirk responsibility just because the court had imposed an order.

“We know crime is out of control in WA and the prison system is a mess,” she said.

“This is just another failure by Roger Cook and his government to get it under control.

“It is beyond belief that the abhorrent child sex abuse trade has been allowed to flourish in a WA prison under Roger Cook’s Government.

“Roger Cook and his police minister need to determine how they allowed this to happen and also explain how they are going to stop it happening again.”

The Cook Government declined to comment but it is understood MPs are perplexed by the court order.

Observers of the case say they appreciate the fact that people will be appalled to learn that a convicted paedophile was given private access to child abuse material but it was a necessary evil to ensure an inmate representing himself was given full access to police files and afforded due process.