STATE OF TASMANIA v PAUL ANDREW BELLCHAMBERS 23 SEPTEMBER 2021
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE PEARCE J
Paul Bellchambers, you plead guilty to accessing and possessing child exploitation material. I also agreed to deal with your plea of guilty to the summary charge of possessing a bestiality product. On 19 December 2017 the police seized a mobile phone from the glovebox of your car which was then forensically examined. It contained a large number of images, a small percentage of which were child exploitation material. Those images were classified according to the ANVIL scale. Only just over 40 per cent of all the images were examined, but, of those, there were:
- 114 depicting children in a sexually suggestive manner, category 1;
- 3 depicting children in solo masturbation or sexual acts between children with no penetration, category 2;
- 16 depicting non-penetrative sexual activity between adults and children, category 3;
- 37 depicting penetrative activity between children or between adults and children, category 4;
- 13 depicting bestiality involving children, category 5, also the subject of the bestiality material charge; and
- 8 anime images of children involved in sexual activity, category 6.
There were 88 images which were not unlawful but which were indicative of an inappropriate interest in children. There was also some adult pornography. The balance of the images which were examined were lawful and irrelevant. You accept that there was other child exploitation material in the images which were not examined. Assuming the existence of child exploitation material in the same proportion across the total number of stored images, the result is an extrapolated total of about 400 unlawful images.
The examination of the phone also revealed that it had twice been used to access child pornography by searches on the internet. On 24 October 2017 and again on 20 November 2017 you viewed child exploitation material. Although the material was accessed for a relatively short time the titles of the sites you viewed were obviously for sexual images of children.
The reasons that possession of child exploitation material is so serious have been stated many times. Child pornography offences put children everywhere at risk of grave sexual abuse. The children depicted in the images are real victims, and your conduct contributed to the demand for such material. You possessed some material in the worst category of seriousness, and the sample shown to me depicts some bad examples of abuse.
You are now aged 50. You were 47 at the time. You come from a stable family background and completed secondary education. However your personal life has been characterised by disrupted relationships which, along with some health issues, has affected your ability to hold regular long-term employment. You have been a full-time father to your son who was born in 2000. Your health remains poor. You have a degenerative spinal condition, and cardiac and bowel issues for which surgical and other treatment may be required in the near term. All of the other computer devices at your home were examined and nothing was found which led to any other charge.
You have a relevant prior conviction. In 2007 you were ordered to perform 98 hours of community service for possessing child exploitation material during the previous year. It is now 15 years since that offence was committed. Although there was no recurrence until 2017, a gap of 10 years, it also indicates that during that period you have not overcome the factors which led you to possess and access material of this nature. I accept that your crimes involve a relatively small number of images and only two brief occasions of accessing, but the need for punishment and deterrence justifies a sentence of imprisonment. You pleaded guilty just before trial, but it was once the correct basis of the accessing charge was determined.
I obtained an assessment of your suitability for home detention. The suggested premises were assessed as unsuitable, at least in part, as a result of complicated relationship dynamics between you, your son and a female flatmate, all of whom live in the same house. The author of the report did not recommend home detention, even though the premises are technically suitable for use if an order is otherwise appropriate. I have decided to make an order in any event because the home is yours, it is your own responsibility to comply, and I do not think that a harsher penalty should be imposed because of the actions or attitudes of others. That will mean, especially in light of the matters raised by Community Corrections today, that the responsibility may well fall upon you to ensure that the actions and attitudes of others do not interfere with your compliance with what will be an onerous order. I have concluded, however, that when the only appropriate alternative sentence is a term of imprisonment, some of which would be actually served, that if there is a viable alternative sentence, then that ought to be ordered. The order will come into effect immediately. You must understand that if you do not comply with the conditions, of the home detention order, that imprisonment is likely. If you breach the order by committing another offence, the order must be cancelled unless there are exceptional circumstances, and in that case imprisonment would be highly likely.
Paul Bellchambers, you are convicted on each count on the indictment and on count 2 on complaint 51553/2018. I order that the mobile phone listed on property seizure record 165060 is forfeited to the State. I am not satisfied that you do not pose a risk of committing a reportable offence within the meaning of that term in the Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2005 in the future. I make an order directing that the Registrar cause your name to be placed on the Register and that you comply with the reporting obligations under that Act for a period four years from today.
I impose one sentence. I make a home detention order. The operative period of the order is 8 months from today. I specify the premises at which you are to reside during the operational period of the order as [home detention premises]. I order that immediately upon your leaving Court you report to the office of Community Corrections in Burnie, for induction into this order, and a further explanation as to its full terms. The order will be subject to all of the core conditions set out in the Sentencing Act 1997, s 42AD(1). They will be set out in the order that you will be given, but include that you will submit to electronic monitoring and must, during the operational period of the order, if directed to do so by a police officer, probation officer or prescribed officer, submit to a breath test, urine test, or other test, for the presence of an illicit drug. I specify that you must be at the home detention premises at all times unless for a relevant reason. In short, that means that you must be at those premises unless there is a need for urgent medical treatment, there is a serious risk of death or injury, or you already have the approval of a probation officer to be absent. It will be for the probation officer to determine what to approve so as to allow for treatment or rehabilitation, or for any other purpose. The conditions will include that you not commit another offence punishable by imprisonment and that you comply with all directions given to you by your probation officer. I impose special conditions that:
- you must submit to the supervision of a probation officer as required by that officer;
- you must not take any illicit or prohibited substances. Illicit and prohibited substances include any controlled drug as defined by the Misuse of Drugs Act 2001, and any medication containing an opiate, benzodiazepine, bupropion, hydrochloride or pseudoephedrine, unless you provide written evidence from your medical professional that you have been prescribed the relevant medication;
- you must submit to any rehabilitation or treatment program as directed by a probation officer;
- you must submit to a medical, psychological, psychiatric or physical or mental health assessment or treatment as directed by a probation officer;
- you must maintain an active mobile phone service, provide the contact details to Community Corrections and be contactable at all times.