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A Perth man who once volunteered with a group of fathers to help neighbours by cleaning up gardens and carrying out odd jobs has been sentenced after chatting online with an undercover police officer about graphic child abuse fantasies.
Lukas Tonkin, from Padbury in Perth’s north, appeared in WA’s District Court last week charged with one count of producing child exploitation material and possessing child exploitation material, relating to incidents in May last year.
The court heard 44-year-old Tonkin had posed as a father from Sydney on a website called Chat Avenue, and began unwittingly speaking with a New South Wales police officer. While Tonkin did not have a daughter, he wrote a detailed account of sexually abusing her “shortly after her birth”.
“You expressed a wish for the persona to visit you and to watch you abusing the child,” District Court Judge Mark Herron said.
“You suggested the two of you move platforms to communicate more discreetly and suggested that you again communicate with each other on Chat Avenue.
“You specifically accessed the website for the purpose of communicating in graphic detail about a sexual interest in abusing baby girls … you, in fact, do not have a daughter.”
New South Wales police tipped off their West Australian counterparts, who conducted a raid at Tonkin’s Padbury home and seized his mobile phone. On it, was a video of a three-year-old girl being raped.
Herron said he accepted the video was not “purposely downloaded” by Tonkin, but came to be on his phone once he logged on to the Chat Avenue website.
Following Tonkin’s subsequent arrest and charges, local volunteer organisation Dadbury released a statement about his work with them.
Tonkin’s participation in the group was used in his sentencing to explain his prior “good character”. The group is a volunteer-run collective of dads and men who help around the Padbury and surrounds area, through busy bees, garden clean-ups, and doing odd jobs for neighbours.
“Dadbury comprises over 100 members of our local community, primarily made up of local dads that want to make a difference in the community in which they live and set a positive example for their own families too,” a spokesperson said.
“Luke was a member and had attended some jobs and events. As soon as the Dadbury Committee was made aware of the charges pending against Luke, he was instructed to not attend any further jobs or events.
“Following the rules of our constitution, Luke was then expelled from Dadbury permanently.
“It goes without saying and has been in our social media statements, but restating here for clarity, that we do not support any party who is guilty of these or any related offences and, as a group of dads, we condemn these offences.”
Dadbury has since introduced a requirement for members to obtain a working with children check card before they can participate in its events.
This masthead does not suggest any wrongdoing by the Dadbury group.
During sentencing, Herron said Tonkin’s childhood had been characterised by depression, anxiety and sexual abuse.
He said Tonkin had worked with a psychologist to express remorse for his actions, and said he had been drinking heavily due to his overwhelming personal life around the time of the offending.
“Your childhood trauma of being a victim of child sexual abuse may also have disinhibited you in your online chat room communications, leading to maladaptive communications against the background of being a victim of [child sexual abuse] when you were experiencing stressful personal circumstances,” he said.
“You felt you belonged in the online chat rooms discussing child exploitation material, which became a perpetuating cycle.
“You were remorseful for your offending, and you demonstrated awareness of how your offending behaviour violated the rights and safety of children.
“You accepted responsibility for your actions.”
Herron said ongoing support from Tonkin’s wife and his friends indicated he could “be able to work towards a rich and meaningful life”.
Tonkin was ultimately given a suspended 12-month sentence, with conditions.
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