A previously convicted Mandurah child sex offender has returned to jail after posing as a young girl so he could persuade young boys on social media to send him sexual images of themselves.
On October 15 in the Perth District Court, Brendon John Grindley, 37, was ordered to serve at least 11 months in jail after pleading guilty to being in possession of more than 12,000 images and 653 videos containing child exploitation material and failing to report his internet activity to police.
State prosecutor Jamie Hamilton told the court the traffic control supervisor used social media platforms Instagram, Periscope, LiveMe and Twitter to request sexual images from young boys between September 1, 2017 and June 13, 2018.
Ms Hamilton said Grindley would pose as young women or girls by sharing images he had downloaded online to encourage victims to send images of themselves or their genitals.
She said the Australian Federal Police also intercepted 153 child exploitation images Grindley had received from "like-minded people" in online chatrooms.
At the time, Grindley was a reportable sex offender, an order which was due to expire in April 2027.
Police found thousands of images and hundreds of videos on Grindley's mobile phone after executing a search warrant at his Orsmby Terrace home on June 13, 2018.
Perth District Court Judge Hylton Quail told the court more than 5000 photos and 150 videos of boys aged between 8 and 12 which were sexually suggestive.
He said the most serious were three photos and a video involving bestiality, a video involving the humiliation of a boy by other boys, and 391 photos and 78 videos of penetrative sexual activity between children or between children and adults.
Judge Quail said Grindley himself was sexually abused between the ages of 8 and 12 by an adult male and had a "dysfunctional" upbringing.
He said Grindley perpetuated the cycle after he was jailed for two-and-a-half years in 2010 for masturbating in the presence of a child and being in the possession of thousands of images and videos containing child exploitation.
Judge Quail said Grindley had acted deceptively and dishonestly "with his own prurient ends in mind" when he posed as a girl to communicate with male children.
He said Grindley was under personal stress at the time due to family pressures and had a problem with alcohol and gambling.
Judge Quail said Grindley would be at risk of re-offending in the future if he was not completely honest with himself during psychological treatment.
Grindley was sentenced to 22 months in prison. He will have to serve 11 months before appying for parole.