Australian man saves daughter's sex chats; charged with child porn
The accused claimed that he made copies of the messages so that he could show them to her school authorities and police.
Melbourne, Victoria: An Australian man who secretly stored sex chats sent by his step-daughter to her boyfriend has been charged with child pornography and put on sex offenders list.
According to a report in the Independent, the accused identified as Ortell, has been slapped with a 12-month good behavior bond after he pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.
While the case was under trial, Ortell said that he had caught his step-daughter red-handed while she was sexting her boyfriend. He then confiscated her mobile phone and made copies of the messages she sent to her boyfriend.
The accused copied the indecent images on his computer and later put them on his USB stick, despite police warning people not to do so, the court heard.
In an attempt to save himself, Ortell claimed that he made copies of the messages so that he could show them to her school authorities and police.
Announcing the judgment in Ortell's case, the judge said that he will be put on the sex offenders list for a term of eight years.
"I didn’t create this stuff, I didn’t distribute it. By law it’s mandatory that they put you on this register. But I could tell that the judge didn’t really want to do it," Ortell was quoted as saying after his sentencing.