Director of Public Prosecutions v Hird

[2025] VCC 320

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR -24-01680

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

PETER HIRD

---

JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE HIGHAM
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	11 March 2025
DATE OF SENTENCE:	21 March 2025
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Hird
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2025] VCC 320

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---

Subject:  CRIMINAL LAW

Catchwords:  Sentence – using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material and cause child abuse material to be transmitted – possessing child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service – plea of guilty

Legislation Cited:           Sex Offender Registration Act2004, Crimes Act (Cth) 1917
Cases Cited:

Sentence:Total effective sentence of 28 months imprisonment, to be released on a Recognisance Release Order after 16 months of imprisonment.

---

APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms A. Carlander-Munro	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms S. Stafford

HIS HONOUR: 

1Peter Hird, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material and cause child abuse material to be transmitted to yourself, (Charge 1), and to one charge of possessing child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service, (Charge 2). The maximum penalty for each offence is a term of imprisonment of 15 years.

2Exhibit 1 was an agreed summary of the prosecution opening which sets out in detail the agreed circumstances of your offending.

3Briefly stated, on 25 May 2024 police executed a search warrant at your home address in Clyde North, Victoria. The target of the warrant was not yourself but your then intimate partner, Wayne, with whom you lived and who is currently charged with offending that is not before me. Two devices of yours were seized:  a Samsung Galaxy S8 mobile phone and a desktop computer.  The charges relate to what those devices revealed.

4The Telegram encrypted messaging and video sharing app permits the sending of both messages and media files for other users.  A key feature, and I find a key attraction of the app, is its end-to-end encryption. Between 21 June 2023 and 7 February 2024, you transmitted child abuse material and caused child abuse material to be transmitted to you during your chat with two different users. Firstly, ‘RP’, with whom you corresponded on 21 June 2023, and secondly ‘Nathan’, with whom you corresponded on seven occasions between 17 January 2024 and 7 February 2024, (Charge 1).

5Paragraphs 16 and 19 of Exhibit 1, provide an extract of the chats that underpin Charge 1. I do not repeat them here. The nature of the conversations can be summarised as the overt and frank articulation of your sexual interest in, and desires for, young male children and the graphic description of the acts you would wish to perform on such children if provided with the opportunity.

6Whilst you clearly state your preferred victim type, that is male children under 12, you also express the desire to violate an infant female child.  You confirm that you are interested in the newborn and in those under five.  The infliction of pain, of rape fantasies, the forcing of parents to participate, and the raping of one's own birth child, are all discussed in the most celebratory and gleeful of terms. 

7You sent ‘Nathan’ images of prepubescent children engaged in sexual acts and a video depicting a crying and distressed toddler being penetrated by an adult male penis.  You state that you regularly try for teens and you sent ‘Nathan’ two images of teenage boys sitting on public transport, unaware that their photo had been taken, as proof of your bona fides, and you suggested meeting up so that you could 'perve on kids together.'

8Charge 2 relates to the child abuse material found across your two devices:  29 videos on the Samsung mobile phone and 903 files on the desktop. 

9Paragraphs 21 and 25 of Exhibit 1 detail that which is depicted on some of the video files and images retrieved from your devices.  The material includes the adult penile penetration of infants and prepubescent children, some held down, some clearly in pain, some unconscious and some screaming in distress.  It is quite simply material of the utmost depravity.

10You were arrested on 25 May 2024 and you took part in a record of interview, during the course of which you answered all questions put to you and were frank as to your online identity, the location of child abuse material on your devices, past conversations about, and the transmission of, child abuse material, and your long entrenched paedophilic desires.

11You stated that you had fantasised about sexual contact with children since you were a teenager and that while you had:

“never got dangerously close to acting, but definitely dangerously close to where I would start planning, you know, like I wasn't planning but I was getting close.”

12You were then remanded. You were granted bail on 30 May 2024 with strict conditions including no contact with your intimate partner of six years and limited internet use. The matter quickly resolved and proceeded by way of a straight hand-up brief to this court on 26 September 2024. Yours, I accept, was a plea of guilty entered at the earliest opportunity.

13Exhibit 4 PH on the plea was a treating psychologist's report from Karl Miller detailing your treatment engagement over 14 sessions from June 2024 onwards. I also received a brief report from your treating psychiatrist, Dr Rahimikia, (Exhibit 5 PH), an up-to-date list of current medication from your dispensing chemist, (Exhibit 6 PH), and a letter from your mother, Jeanette, (Exhibit 7 PH).

Personal Circumstances

14I turn now to your personal circumstances.

15You were born the middle child in a sibship of four in October 1984 and are now aged 40, and were 38 and 39 at the time of this offending.  You grew up in the Frankston area.  You experienced a happy childhood living with your parents and younger brother and described them as loving and supportive.

16You attended local schools and performed well academically.  You were bullied at school, firstly because of your weight and then in secondary school because of your sexuality.  You were subjected to constant physical and verbal assaults at the hands of your peers.  However, you did find a friendship cohort with a common interest in trains and railways.  As a result of the bullying your self-esteem deteriorated with an impact upon your mental health continuing long after you left school.

17You have a long history of depression and have been prescribed antidepressant medication since 2010 – (Exhibit 6 PH).

18You experienced difficulty as a child and as an adolescent in managing your impulsive behaviours, and when, an adult, in managing boredom and compulsive behaviours.  You were diagnosed with ADHD in 2021 and prescribed Ritalin as part of pharma-therapeutic treatment.

19You obtained a place to complete a Bachelor of Science but did not start your degree, as you prioritised paid employment over university.  Throughout your adult life you have worked in administrative support in various industries including marketing, program training, sales and various other roles.  Your most recent employment was terminated after these charges were laid.  You have since investigated the possibility of completing further study in the field of photography and you aspire to own your own photography business.  You have been a Freemason since you were 18 years old, and at the time of your arrest were a senior in your local branch involved in training and mentoring.

20You have used cannabis throughout your life which you describe as a form of self-medication. You have various health issues including obstructive sleep apnoea, (treated with a CPAP machine), free-running circadian rhythm sleep disorder, asthma and gastroesophageal reflux disease.  Your health issues, I am told, are now well managed.

21You have had one significant intimate relationship with Mr Wayne O'Connor, which commenced in 2017.  You lived with Mr O'Connor and Mr O'Connor's ex-partner in the share house where you were arrested.  Your relationship with Mr O'Connor ended after your arrest and a 'no contact' condition of bail.

22You told Mr Miller, (Exhibit 4PH), that your first sexual interaction was at the age of five with a similar aged male peer.  By the age of nine you regularly engaged in sexual behaviour with a male classmate which progressed to regular penetrative sex by the age of 12. Your childhood sexual experiences have always been with similar aged male children.

23You report first being exposed to child sexual abuse material during your adolescence and that you immediately felt aroused by the taboo nature of the content. You recount an enjoyment from collecting and trading in child abuse material and frankly, and seemingly unhesitatingly, acknowledged your longstanding and entrenched paedophilic interest and desires, particularly the depiction of sadistic and abusive behaviours towards children.

24In your record of interview, you stated that:  'It's kind of always the way I was'  (Answer 37).  Analysis of your device also revealed an SMS exchange from March 2019 in which you state you have been collecting child abuse material since your teenage years and you expressed in that exchange further violent sexual fantasies. I should make clear, this exchange is not the subject of any charge and was led by agreement as context, in proof of the chronicity of your deviance.

25You would often travel on public transport and seat yourself where you could observe adolescent children which you termed as 'eye candy.'  You recount developing fantasies depicting victims that you observed on public transport. The sexual objectification of male children is concerning in that it has been normalised for you and that you indulge in this pleasure from a distance.

26Mr Miller noted your initial presentation shortly after your arrest as both respectful and defensive. Psychometric testing revealed a valid profile consistent with your presentation and treatment.  He also confirmed that your ongoing presentation is consistent with Dr Rahimikia's diagnosis of ADHD.  You described your offending in compartmentalised terms, speaking in a manner that disowned your responsibility, and blaming your ex-boyfriend for your involvement in the criminal justice system.

27Mr Miller noted:

'His presentation suggested that he was unaccustomed to the process of self-reflection and he displayed limited insight into the harmful nature of his offending.  Notwithstanding this limited insight, he acknowledged a willingness to engage in treatment to enhance his insight and address his sexual deviancy.'

28Diagnostically, your paraphilic sexual interest meets the criteria for a diagnosis of paedophilic disorder, non-exclusive type, sexually attracted to males.

'His experience of sexual arousal towards children has persisted since his adolescence and as he has continued to explore this arousal, he has developed an increasingly deviant attraction towards children with associated fantasy which has included his offending behaviour.'

29Initial sessions established treatment goals.  Mr Miller notes that a strong therapeutic alliance has been established which forms a basis for therapeutic progress.  But while you have accepted partial responsibility for your offending, including acknowledging that your possession and accessing child abuse material was unlawful, examples of minimising offending behaviour remains.

30Of some concern to the court is that you have 'made limited progress in developing appreciation of the significance of harm caused to child and adolescent victims of sexual exploitation.' You will require sustained participation and treatment to address victim empathy.

31Mr Miller's conclusion is that you have made steady progress in treatment, in identifying triggers for your offending, and that you have shown an important willingness to address the cognitive distortions and belief that support your offending behaviour.

32He notes:

'Recent progress such as developing adaptive strategies to manage his impulsivity suggests that there is a basis for optimism for his prospects of rehabilitation.  Given the ingrained nature of the sexual deviance, inclusive of his distortive beliefs about children and adolescence readiness for sexual behaviour, ongoing treatment will be required to address the problems that serve as risk factors.'

Submissions of Counsel

33Ms Carlander-Munro on behalf of the Commonwealth Director set out in clear submissions the relevant sentencing principles and factors that are engaged in offending involving child abuse material.  They are rightly described as well-established and uncontroversial.  The offending, she submitted, was objectively very serious and called for an immediate term of imprisonment.  She reminded me that the chats occurred over eight days, they reveal a willingness to share images and are an expression and normalisation of your deeply entrenched paedophilic desires. 

34She submitted that whilst the total number of images possessed - that is 900 - was not as numerous as is so often encountered in the courts, they depicted the violation of very young children. She submitted there should be some cumulation and conceded there might be some, albeit very small, overlap in the offending in terms of shared images between Charge 1 and Charge 2.

35Ms Stafford, learned counsel on your behalf, recounted your personal history and conceded the inevitability of a custodial disposition.  General deterrence was a primary sentencing purpose.  In mitigation of sentence she submitted that from the moment of your arrest you have been co-operative and you had been extraordinarily frank and forthright in your record of interview.  You have been realistic as to the inevitable outcome of this matter.  She submitted that there was a certain amount of bravado in the chats, that they were fantasy rather than the settled expression of desire. In the course of argument on the plea I questioned that characterisation, but I form no concluded view.

36She reminded me that the images in Charge 2 were not concealed in separate folders, nor were they in any secret compartments on your computer or its hard drive.  All images were in either a photo gallery or readily identifiable folders.  There were no custom settings on your Telegram app.  It is unclear to me whether that indicates a lack of sophistication, or merely demonstrates how normalised your possession of this material had become.

37You were of previous good character, although she recognised that this carries less weight in offending of this kind.  Your plea of guilty was entered at the earliest opportunity, bringing with it both the practical benefit of saving the community the time and expense of a trial, but was also, she submitted, an indication of your remorse.  You genuinely seek help to address your deviance, and you have confirmed your readiness, indeed desire, to continue treatment.  Thus, whilst your paedophilic desires have been present since adolescence, it seems you are ready to embrace at least the possibility of change.

38She submitted that meaningful progress had already been made in treatment, that you retain the support of your younger brother, Allan, with whom you have a good relationship and who knows all about this offending.  Your parents are also supportive of you, your mother is again present in court, fully knowing the nature of the offences to which you have pleaded guilty.  You will live with them upon your release into the community.  It was, Ms Stafford submitted, an important protective factor.  You were already making plans for your future, and there were grounds for optimism in regard to your prospects for rehabilitation.

Objective Gravity

39Mr Hird, the courts have stated time and time again that those who access or transmit or possess child abuse material, when caught will almost inevitably be met with a term of imprisonment, for the simple reason that those who consume this material in any form, feed the market for the abuse of children.  Without customers there would be no market, a market that is based upon a fundamental betrayal of our common humanity by the degrading and traumatising exploitation of children for the sexual gratification of others.

40If you pause for a moment, Mr Hird, you be certain that the children who feature in your images do not go on to kinder, they do not go on to school, they do not go on to have happy and meaningful parenting experiences.  You will have time to ponder upon exactly what the future of such exploited children may be.

41With platforms such as Telegram providing end-to-end encryption services, and thus therefore the well- known possibility of correspondence taking place in relative secrecy, the internet, the online world, has become an even greater forum for the sharing of images that can only be described as depraved.  Such platforms enable the legitimisation and the sharing of desires that once upon a time would have been hidden from view, attended with the utmost degree of shame and guilt, and self-loathing, but which are now, because of platforms such as Telegram, celebrated with glee and joy in the virtual world.

42The images you accessed transmitted and stored depicted the utter violation of children and of infants.  Images of young children engaged in penetrative acts, images of complete depravity.  I accept that the number was certainly not as extensive as is often encountered in this court, albeit it was still a significant number.  I accept there was no suggestion, it seems, of personal profit.  I accept that you made images available only to your correspondents.  It is, however, difficult to conceive of more depraved material than the sexual violation of infants.

43Any notion also that text-based material somehow represents a lesser offence without attendant harm needs to be firmly and swiftly corrected.  Whilst it does not depict the actual violation of children, it has the ability to normalise the sexual exploitation of children, and in such normalisation it both feeds the demands for such material and may influence the actions of those who receive it.  And there could be no clearer example or proof of such maligned potential than your candid admissions in your record of interview at Answer 113 as to how you were contemplating turning fantasy into reality.

44You are settled in your desires.  As you said in your record of interview:  'There is something inside of me that will always be a desire.'[1]   You have become inured to the violation of children. Such images have had a corrupting effect upon you, as is clear from your record of interview where you state:  'The older I get, the more extreme the material tends to be.'[2]

[1]      Record of Interview, 25 May 2024, answer 322.

[2]      Ibid, answer 154.

45Thus, your focus of sexual interest has become the rape and the brutal infliction of sexual violence upon the very young.  What your record of interview reveals is how completely immersed you have become in your deviant desires, failing to see anything wrong with it.  It is also, in my view, truly chilling that you speak of sharing these images as casually as if you were sharing footy cards. 

46Your moral culpability for this offending is clear beyond demonstration.  General deterrence, that is deterring anyone outside of this court from even thinking for a moment of behaving as you did, let alone acting in that way, is the primary sentencing consideration in offending of this kind, and in consequence, mitigatory factors such as your prior good character, age, prospects of rehabilitation, are afforded less weight than there might otherwise be given in the sentencing synthesis.  In your case I find specific deterrence, denunciation, punishment, also have work to do.

47I note the continued support of your family, however, your treatment has, in my view, only just begun.  Until you have learned appropriate strategies to contain your desires, your prospects for rehabilitation must be viewed with some caution.  There is currently a need to protect the community from you.

48I am quite satisfied that having regard to the principles set out section 16A(1) and 17A of the Crimes Act (Cth) and the matters listed in section 16A(2), that the only appropriate disposition on each charge is conviction and a term of imprisonment and the fixing of a Recognisance Release Order after a certain period pursuant to section 20(1)(b). 

49I has not been argued on your behalf by Ms Stafford that I should find special circumstances on your part to enable an immediate recognisance release, and I do not so find.

50I make it clear I have regard to all matters urged upon me by your counsel, Ms Stafford.  However, she has conceded, and as you must be only too well aware, the objective gravity of your offending is such that it can only be met with an immediate term of imprisonment.

Sentence

51If you would be so good as to stand, Mr Hird.

52On Charge 1, you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 16 months.

53On Charge 2, you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 19 months.

54The sentence on Charge 1 begins immediately.  The sentence on Charge 2 is to start nine months after the sentence on Charge 1.

55That makes a total effective sentence of 28 months.

56I direct that you be released on a Recognisance Release Order after 16 months.

57Upon your release you are to report to Frankston Community Corrections Centre.

58You will report to and receive visits from the Community Corrections officer.

59You should notify an officer of any change of address or employment within two clear working days.

60You are to attend for assessment and if assessed as suitable for treatment for sex offender programs or programs to reduce offending as directed by the Deputy Commissioner or their nominee.

61You are to attend, undertake and complete the Sex Offender program within a period of two years, or alternatively, undertake and complete treatment with Mr Karl Miller, the psychologist with whom you have been engaging, for a period of two years.

62Pursuant to section 6AAA of the Sentencing Act, had you not pleaded guilty you would have been sentenced to a total effective sentence of three years and four months with a non-parole period of two years and four months.

63I shall direct that you have already served six days of the sentence I have passed upon you and I direct that should be entered into the records of the court.

64By virtue of the provisions of the Sex Offender Registration Act 2004, you are now a registrable offender and the period of your registration conditions is one of 15 years.

‑ ‑ ‑