An Australian Defence Force member who admitted writing and emailing child abuse material to co-workers also photographed several children on school grounds, court documents have revealed.
The Canberra Times reported last week the child sex offender was discharged from the ADF on November 6, several months after pleading guilty to a single charge of producing child abuse material.
The material in question was a more than 205-page "explicit erotic fantasy story", in which the man, aged in his 50s, played a central character grooming and sexually abusing more than 45 female children.
He cannot be named due to suppression orders and is set to be sentenced later this month.
Deleted images
Documents released by the ACT Supreme Court this week reveal the offender took photos of young girls on and around school grounds between March and May this year.
The ACT man has not been charged over the images, which were deleted from his phone and only discovered by police using specialist software.
The schoolchildren are described as being aged between 12 and 15, dressed in school uniforms, on school ovals or just outside school grounds, and appearing unaware they were being photographed.
According to agreed facts, the zoomed-in photos were taken during school hours and from a distance.
The schools are not named in the documents.
The third and final photo was taken only a week before the man accidentally emailed his child abuse novel to four work colleagues and was subsequently reported to police.
The abuse material
When police spoke to the man, he admitted writing the abuse document in his work draft emails over a year and regularly adding to it while on shift.
Disturbingly, in the context of the photographs discovered on his phone, the man's story contained "sexual fantasy about young girls at school".
He wrote numerous details about his child victim "characters", including names, ages and physical attributes, and referenced underage members of his family.
According to documents, the writing depicted the man impregnating children and branding them with tattoos of his initials among other things.
The court previously heard the former ADF member's reasoning for producing the story was "due to boredom and isolation at work".
Defence has refused to answer questions about the man's employment, any possible suspension after he was charged, and why it took so long to discharge him after his guilty plea.
The man has only spent one night in custody for his crime.
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; Bravehearts 1800 272 831; Blue Knot Foundation 1300 657 380.
