A former Northern Territory Police officer who offered money, alcohol and phone credit to men in exchange for sexually explicit videos, including of children, has pleaded guilty to a string of child abuse material charges.
Jared Kane Porch appeared before the Alice Springs Supreme Court on Wednesday, pleading guilty to 12 charges, including transmitting, soliciting, possessing or controlling child abuse material.
Other charges included six counts of using a carriage service to groom another person to make it easier to procure persons under 16 years of age to engage in sexual activity with themselves.
There were also two counts of using a carriage service to groom another person to make it easier to procure persons under 16 years of age to engage in sexual activity with another person.
The court heard the offending took place over a 16-month period, beginning on July 31, 2020, while Porch was a serving member of the Northern Territory Police Force.
Prosecutor Mary Chalmers SC said "a number" of the victims were Aboriginal children.
Details of offending revealed
After a tip-off from the United States National Centre of Missing and Exploited children, AFP officers raided Porch's Alice Springs home in November 2021, finding "a large number" of Facebook messenger chats on his devices.
According to the agreed facts of the case, Porch spoke to Aboriginal, Fijian and Papua New Guinean men via social media, either using his own name, the pseudonym "Whitie Whitie" or a fake female persona of "Paige Oakes" and sent and received child abuse material.
The court heard during some of the chats, he would request the other person to bring a child into video chats or otherwise involve them in sexual acts.
He also asked the men to meet up with "Paige" for sex, at times asking them to find or arrange children to also be present.
Court documents show Porch offered to provide money, alcohol and mobile telephone credit to the men in exchange for sexually explicit videos and photographs, or engaging in sexual acts via video chat or in person.
The court heard "a number" of the men became dependent on his payments, which Porch would withhold if he was "not satisfied" with the pornographic or abusive material he had been provided.
Six-year-old child among victims
Prosecutors said 40 different people were involved in Porch's grooming and procuring offences.
On three separate occasions, following what Ms Chalmers described as "persistent efforts", Porch convinced another man to perform sexually explicit acts in the presence of his six-year-old son, in exchange for sums of money.
The court heard during a video call to Porch, the same man filmed the child while the six-year-old was naked in the shower.
Ms Chalmers asked that two images from videos of this incident be submitted as evidence, but Justice Judith Kelly declined.
"It will tend to distort the sentencing exercise ... by producing an inappropriately emotional response," Justice Kelly said.
According to the agreed facts, Porch kept a large collection of pornographic material involving Aboriginal people on a data cloud, and often traded pornography of local men and women with others.
Former police officer charged
The court heard Porch had worked as a police officer in Alice Springs and surrounding remote communities for more than 12 years.
He received several promotions during his time in the force, working at times as an Acting Senior Sergeant.
Porch resigned from the NT Police Force following his arrest in late 2021.
After he pleaded guilty to the offences, Porch's lawyers urged Justice Kelly to take into account his "excellent" work history when she ultimately hands down her sentence.
Each of his 12 charges carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
The defence argued Porch's time in prison would be "more arduous" than most prisoners, as a former police officer and a sex offender.
His lawyers urged Justice Kelly to take into account his cooperation with police during their investigation and said Porch had shown a “willingness to seek assistance” for his mental health.
The court heard he sought psychological support in 2016, suffering from anxiety and depression, which his lawyers argued were a result of Porch’s "frustration at not being able to express his sexuality", and feelings of loneliness while working remotely.
Claims no real action to rehabilitate
Prosecutors argued despite Porch’s attempts to seek help for his anxiety and depression, he had yet to take action to address the drivers behind his offending.
"Yes, there's expressions of guilt and shame that are reasonably common expressions in these types of matters," Ms Chalmers said.
"But there is no discussion in [his letter] that advances the situation in terms of rehabilitative prospects.
"For example, there's no engagement with the motivation behind the offending, or evidence that there's been significant efforts undertaken to address what's behind the offending."
Porch has been remanded in custody to appear in the Alice Springs Supreme Court on Friday for sentencing.
