A FORMER Beechworth secondary school teacher caught through international links to child pornography was involved in what a police officer yesterday described as “prolonged activity in an abhorrent crime”.
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Police prosecutor Sen-Constable Wayne Taylor called for a jail term to be imposed on Ronald Hayes, who has lost his teaching career and faces the remainder of his life on the sex offender’s register.
Hayes, 52, a long-time teacher in the North East, appeared for sentence in Shepparton Magistrate’s Court on charges of possessing, transmitting and making child pornography.
Magistrate Reg Marron was told in tendered police facts that Hayes was caught through a complaint from a German internet site to police which led to involvement by Interpol and notification to the Australian Federal Police and Victoria’s sexual crimes squad.
Hayes was identified as accessing the internet sites and downloading child pornography images.
It was discovered that a total of 6520 images had been exchanged by him, with 2859 sent by Hayes to different receivers.
Sites had been accessed by Hayes between 2006 and last year.
“There is no suggestion he has paid for any of the images,” Sen-Constable Taylor said.
Hayes was stood down from Beechworth Secondary College last year after police executed a search warrant and found pornography before arresting him in May last year.
Melbourne barrister Marcus Dempsey, for Hayes, said it was clear none of the images had been archived with much of the material found by police computer experts in a trash folder.
Mr Dempsey said Hayes had to make copies of files to transmit them and the transmission was over a short period of time.
The focus of the images was males aged about 15 years, but others were younger.
“He is psychologically overwhelmed by his present situation,” Mr Dempsey said.
Mr Dempsey said he conceded it was serious offending with the number of images, the content of them and their transmission.
Sen-Constable Taylor said the Victorian Government in 2000 increased the penalty for possessing child pornography from two years’ jail to five years, with Attorney-General Rob Hulls saying there was a commitment to protect children.
“This is not a case of mere idle curiosity,” Sen-Constable Taylor said.
“The sense of violation in the community cannot be underestimated.”
