A physical education teacher at a private Brisbane high school has been granted bail for a second time, after it was revealed in court that he now faces more than 100 child exploitation offences.
Lucas Gill was stood down from his position at the Mt Maria College in Mitchelton in July last year after being charged with three counts each of possessing child exploitation material and using a carriage service to access child abuse material.
At the time, police had arrested Mr Gill after they allegedly found the material on a laptop and phone at his Chermside home.
It was alleged the 42-year-old, who was also a sports coach at the school, used an encrypted overseas website to access and store the material.
He was released on bail in July last year, but during a hearing in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday, it heard he had been returned to custody in October and was facing dozens of new charges which he has already been committed to stand trial over.
The further offences include multiple counts of indecent treatment of a child, making and distributing child exploitation material and using the internet to procure children, all which are alleged to have occurred before he was granted bail the first time.
The court heard some of the offending spans across several years and included him photographing one of his students then sending it to numerous people.
He is also accused of using Snapchat to procure and make child exploitation material from another child.
'Forty-nine separate accounts identified'
Making another application for bail on his behalf, Mr Gill's lawyer Alan Phillips told the court his client had no criminal history, and "extremely strict conditions" would reduce the risk of him reoffending.
"There is at first glance a significant but concerning case against him and I can't get away from that due to the nature of the charges," he said.
"He's never breached bail before… that's probably the strongest evidence before Your Honour that he will comply with the conditions that are proposed."
Prosecutor Ryan Minuti opposed his release, arguing the charges were significant and Mr Gill had not allegedly offended "exclusively online".
Mr Minuti told the court Mr Gill had allegedly distributed child exploitation material to dozens of people online and argued he had a propensity for committing these types of crimes.
"The quantum and the diverse nature of the offending over the long period of time is what the Crown says goes to the defendant's risk of reoffending," he said.
"This isn't the case of 82 conversations between one or two people … there were 49 separate accounts identified."
A magistrate granted Mr Gill's release under several conditions, including that he must live with his mother, must not leave the state without permission and complete a sexual offender treatment course.
He is also banned from using the internet other than for conducting online banking, and cannot contact anyone under the age of 18.
The matter is expected to be heard again in the District Court in Brisbane later this year.
