A senior NSW police officer has been convicted of possessing a child abuse video by a Sydney court.
Peter Hanna, who was stood down as senior sergeant of the NSW Police Metro Wireless Network Services, will serve an 18-month community corrections order after he was charged in June 2021 with possessing child abuse material.
The court heard that while there were three videos in question, the magistrate deemed just one video as meeting the threshold of being in Hanna's possession beyond any reasonable doubt.
This was because the other videos were sent to Hanna via encrypted chat service WhatsApp, and may have been saved to his camera roll "without him even viewing it" the magistrate said.
The video that did meet the possession charge depicted two adults having sex in the same room as a child, likely between the ages of two and a half and four years old, the court was told.
A witness previously told the court that Hanna showed her this video, to which she "felt sick" in response.
Speaking generally, the magistrate described her evidence as "persuasive".
"It was found on the phone that was seized by police, and I am satisfied that he had possession of that video," the magistrate said.
NSW Director of Public Prosecutions Prosecutor Lisa Stueckradt told the court the threshold to be found guilty of possession of child abuse material had been crossed.
Despite claims from Hanna's lawyer that it was a "low-level offence", the magistrate imposed an 18-month community corrections order.
Hanna had pleaded not guilty to possessing child abuse material.
The court heard he worked for NSW Police for 21 years and had no prior criminal history.
