Father whose daughter, 15, sent nude pictures to her boyfriend is prosecuted for child porn offences after he kept the images on his phone
Ashan Ortell was charged after going to police with the images with the judge saying he was 'satisfied' the father had not kept them for sexual motivation
A MAN has been convicted of possessing child pornography and placed on the sex offenders register after keeping nude photographs of his stepdaughter that she had sent to her boyfriend because he wanted police and her school to take action.
Ashan Ortell, 57, said he only kept the images so that he could report his then 15-year-old stepdaughter to police for sending sext messages to her boyfriend.
But after ignoring advice from officers to delete the pictures — who advised that keeping them was an offence — the man was arrested and charged - and will now be on the sex offenders list in Australia for the next eight years.
Police raided his home in Victoria in 2013, seizing a computer and storage device which contained the images.
But UK law experts have now warned Brit parents that they might be faced with the same consequences if they got involved in their child's sexting.
Mr Ortell was sentenced to a 12-month good behaviour bond for copying 18 images onto a computer and USB drive, .
Victorian County Court Judge Jane Patrick said the case was “unusual” and different to any other child porn cases heard by the court.
"This is a very unusual case,” Judge Patrick said.
"The law says that people may not keep images of a sexual nature of children. Usually such images are kept for sexual motivation.
"That is not the case in your situation. You kept the images, I am satisfied, because you were very concerned about what had been going on and foolishly decided that this was the way to deal with it."
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From now on, Mr Ortell must hand over all computer logins to authorities, as well as notify police if he wishes to take a holiday that extends longer than a weekend.
He decided to keep the images sent by his stepdaughter, by copying 18 pictures to a USB and computer in a bid to get police to investigate the matter further.
Mr Ortell told the that he did not even know what he had done qualified as possessing child pornography.
He said: "I didn’t even understand it fell under child pornography.
"I also made a copy for the school and the police. The police then interviewed me and my stepdaughter separately but said it appeared to be consensual.
"No one told me that this is child pornography so delete it. My solicitor made the point ‘why would he go to the police if he had anything to hide?
"I didn’t create this stuff, I didn’t distribute it. By law it’s mandatory that they put you on this register. But I could tell that the judge didn’t really want to do it,” he added.
said the UK law regarding indecent images – and the reason for having such images– was extremely similar to that in Australia, with concerned Brit parents potentially being able to be tripped up by the law.
He said: "The bottom line is don’t take the law into your own hands.
"Go to the police as people take these things very seriously - police have messed up so many times in the past and now possibly go too strong on it."
As in Australia, a person in the UK must show legitimate reason for having the photographs in their possession.
Mr Kotrie said if parents took a screenshot of images they were concerned about, they should immediately go to police.
Speaking to The Sun Online, he said: “With anything, you need to tell the police as soon as possible to avoid being an accessory or being identified as a perpetrator.
"It could be a double-edged sword as they might start to investigate you."
He said that the current act relating to indecent images of children was more than 40 years old, saying: "Younger and younger children are getting phones with cameras on them, which is just terrifying."
Old Bailey Solicitors director David Osborne also agreed that it was possible for parents to be prosecuted if they got involved in their child’s sexting, despite their well-meant intentions.
He said: "The problem with the Australian case was that he was told to delete them and he didn’t so the original legitimate reason was no longer there."
He said that it was far better for UK parents to either speak to their child or go to authorities before taking screenshots of any sexts.
Mr Osborne said: "It’s no good playing detective on your own behalf - that can be quite dangerous."
He said that the emergence of camera phones and sexting had caused enforcement issues.
He said: "It’s a problem in terms of law enforcement but it has also caused a great problem for young people… nothing seems to be private these days.
"Immaturity can lead them to show things they might later wish they hadn’t."
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