Kalgoorlie-Boulder uncle jailed for raping, sexually touching and secretly recording his two young nieces

A Kalgoorlie-Boulder uncle repeatedly raped and sexually abused his two young nieces, and secretly recorded them in the bathroom for his own sexual gratification. The 45-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victims, was sentenced to eight years and six months’ imprisonment for 18 charges in Perth District Court last week. His string of charges, all of which he pleaded guilty to, included five counts of sexually penetrating a child between 13 and 16, five of indecently dealing with a child between 13 and 16, and three of producing child exploitation material. The court was told the man was 40 when he sexually touched the youngest of his victims, who was 13 at the time. When the victim was 16, the man performed an indecent act in front of the girl while she was naked and getting changed, walking away when she noticed him. Some time later, the victim was in the shed and the man made sexual comments to her. He then told her he wanted to give her $300 to “play with” him, and admitted he wanted to have sex with her. His other niece was 15 and watching videos on her phone in her uncle’s bedroom when he came in, locked the door, and sexually touched her before performing a sex act on her. He then raped her and told her “I should have done this sooner. I don’t want to get you pregnant”, but proceeded to not use contraception – something judge Karen Shepherd highlighted as an extra concern given his regular interactions with sex workers. About one week later, the man again locked his bedroom door with his 15-year-old niece inside and grabbed her by the waist and pulled her on to his lap as she tried to get away. He sexually touched her before raping her while she repeatedly asked him to stop. When he stopped, she texted her mum asking for help, then ran to her nan and pop crying and told them what had happened, which the man denied, instead telling them they were “wrestling”. Police found 102 images and six videos of category two child exploitation material of the nieces on his computer, which had been recorded through a hidden camera in the bathroom. The man also had 254,254 images and 3286 videos of children not known to him — 1044 images of which were category one child exploitation material, and 225 images and one video of category two material — including the images of his nieces. Only 100,000 of the images on this computer were reviewed, and contained content of girls aged from five to 14, some showing very serious sexual offending against the children. A further 31,239 photos and videos of child exploitation material were found on his phone. A psychological report claimed the man denied the offending against the younger niece and blamed his legal advice as the reason he pleaded guilty. He also told the psychologist his early offending could have been a dream given his regular methamphetamine use, before changing his tone and blaming the victim. The man also claimed he stopped using sex workers because he could not afford them as well as his daily meth habit, telling the psychologist he “chose meth and masturbation” over sex workers. Judge Shepherd rejected all his explanations and instead ruled the man had a sexual interest in children, and turned to his nieces, not masturbation. She said the psychologist also found the man had a “distorted view of females and of sexual behaviour”, and his attitude to females was “of concern”. “Your offending represented a gross breach of trust that had been placed in you, as (the victim’s) uncle,” Judge Shepherd said. “She was entitled to feel safe and secure in her home. She was entitled to feel safe and secure around you, as her uncle.” The man told the psychologist he had also been a victim of sexual abuse by his uncle, “to a lesser extent”, and Judge Shepherd said it should not be lost on him how serious his offending was. “I’m sure that it’s not lost on you that . . . what you’ve done is you’ve repeated, effectively, what’s happened to you as a child, so it’s had a big impact on you,” she said. “You’ve got to also understand that the impact of your offending on your nieces is undoubtedly significant.” Judge Shepherd also took into consideration the fact the man had been remanded in Hakea Prison, where he was “triple-bunked” and sleeping on a mattress on the floor. “I accept that the prison conditions in Hakea at the moment are such that your time in prison on remand so far has been very hard time for you,” she said. “I moderate the sentence I would otherwise have imposed on you, taking that into account. “That’s not your fault, that’s Corrective Services that needs to fix that.” She also took the man’s limited criminal record as a mitigating factor, and granted him a 25 per cent discount for his guilty pleas. His eight-year, six-month sentence was backdated to September 2024, and the man will be eligible for parole after serving 6½ years. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Kids Helpline 1800 551 800