An 80-year-old sex offender who modified dolls to use as sex aids and took surreptitious photographs of children at a shopping centre has been sentenced to 10 months in jail in Western Australia.
The Bunbury District Court was told on Tuesday that Errol Leonard Warner was severely attacked in Bunbury Regional Prison after pleading guilty to three counts of possession of child exploitation material.
Judge David MacLean described Warner as incorrigible, with little prospect of rehabilitation.
Warner's sentence was backdated to his arrest, so he is set to be released in three months.
Warner was a reportable sex offender.
Police searched his home at a Picton caravan park in November 2022 and found images he had taken of himself performing sex acts near photographs taken of young children.
Police also found three children's dolls modified to be used as sex aids and 10 doll heads.
The court heard Warner also took photographs, direct from free-to-air television, of a naked infant in the bath.
Warner had also taken photographs of children playing at the caravan park and at a local supermarket.
The court was told he was under supervision after being sentenced to four years' jail in 2011 for sex offences.
'Calculated step'
Judge MacLean said Warner had designed and fashioned his own child exploitation material to circumvent the restrictions placed on him.
"[This was] a calculated step to get around supervision," Judge MacLean said.
"You filmed children nearby, or paused or stopped transmission, to create your own material."
Legal aid lawyer Derek Hunter described the child exploitation material as being at the lower end of the scale because the children pictured were not engaging in sexual activity.
He said his client had significant treatment needs and accepted that the behaviour was more serious because of Warner's history.
Judge MacLean said the fact that the images did not depict children being abused did not make the offences less serious.
"Children have the right to go about without people surreptitiously photographing them," he said.
Attacked in prison
Mr Hunter said his client was not likely to fully recover from being attacked in prison in November.
Warner, who was strangled until he passed out, lost sight in one eye, suffered four broken ribs, and had to use a walking frame as a result of the attack.
"He's doing it very, very hard in prison," he said.
After the attack he was moved to another WA prison, where he was housed in the infirmary for his safety.
Mr Hunter said the attack on his client occurred after a local paper ran an "inflammatory" headline describing Warner as a "sex doll creep".
Judge MacLean rejected the inference that news reports could be blamed for the attack on Warner.
"[Media reporting] is part of living in a free society," he said.
"Responsibility for the attack does not rest with the media."
Judge MacLean said the prison system had a duty to keep prisoners safe, but made it clear he did not blame the prison.
He said Warner's potential to reoffend was well above average and that there was little chance of rehabilitation.
Judge MacLean said there was no other option but imprisonment.
"There is community abhorrence of children's images being used for masturbatory ends," he said.
