A MEADOW Springs man was fined $10,000 in the Mandurah Magistrates this morning for importing child pornography.
Russell Bryce, 35, was charged after a parcel addressed to him was intercepted by customs on January 31.
The parcel, from Indonesia, contained five DVDs featuring female children as young as eight engaged in sexualised posing.
The court heard Mr Bryce had ordered the offending material off eBay.
The DVDs contained 23 movies in total and 1225 photographs of female children aged between eight and 13 in a variety of indecent positions.
The children were clothed, and while Commonwealth prosecutor Anthony Powell referred to the footage as “lower end of the scale”, he said there was significant public interest in protecting children from exploitation.
Counsel for Mr Bryce said his client “can’t really explain” why he ordered the illegal movies.
“He was a bit drunk,” the lawyer said in citing “loss of inhibition” and “curiosity” as mitigating factors in defence of Mr Bryce.
The court heard Mr Bryce twice tried to cancel the order but had been unsuccessful.
Magistrate Terry McIntyre said while the offence was “bottom of the range”, it still had very serious implications.
“You contributed to the exploitation of children,” he said.
“This is not a victimless crime; children are victims.”
