Darryl Gene Butler: Kalgoorlie-Boulder man found with 44 child exploitation images will be sentenced on Friday

A Kalgoorlie-Boulder man who says he saved more than 40 images of child exploitation material to his phone “to report them to relevant authorities” will be sentenced on Friday. Darryl Gene Butler, 49, had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of importing Tier 2 goods after his phone was searched by Australian Border Force staff at Perth Airport when he returned from a holiday in the Philippines in August last year. A crown prosecutor at Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Monday said Butler’s phone contained 44 images of real children between the ages of three and 14. She said Butler saw the child abuse images on social media platform Tumblr, saved them, and zoomed in to determine if they were fake. The prosecutor said 31 of the images were saved in a private container on Butler’s phone that required a password to view. Butler’s lawyer Lily Fisher said Butler saved the child exploitation material with the intention of reporting them to relevant authorities and admitted to zooming in on the images to determine if they were real, as he believed they could be fake. She said he “didn’t turn his mind” to the fact that saving the images to his phone was illegal or that he would be importing illegal goods when he returned to Australia. Ms Fisher said Butler co-operated with customs, pleaded guilty at the fourth opportunity, and that his criminal record was “not notable” as his last offences were minor and 26 years old. She said Butler was unemployed, had resided in Kalgoorlie for a decade, had two adult children and a grandchild, and would be married in September. Ms Fisher said Butler was focused on his serious medical health — which includes heart and back issues — at the time of his offending which could offer an explanation. She said he would be more mindful of the content on his phone going forward. The crown prosecutor said documents relating to Butler’s health issues were more than 10 months old, out of date and not relevant, and that there was no evidence that Butler had reported any child exploitation material to authorities. She said his health issues could not go so far as to explain the cause of offending. The prosecutor said the fact that the images were saved in a private container that required a password indicated a level of sophistication and premeditation that meant Butler knew what he was doing was wrong. She said there was no evidence of Butler showing any remorse for his crime and no evidence that he had undertaken any therapeutic rehabilitation. The prosecutor said Butler’s crime was not victimless. She said victims of these crimes are often children from third world countries who undergo significant trauma in the creation of images such as the ones found on his phone. She said the children were revictimised every time a picture was accessed and there was a paramount need for deterrence. The prosecutor said jail time was the only appropriate penalty for Butler and that the maximum penalty for his crime was 10 years. Magistrate William Yoo said he needed time to consider the appropriate sentence, and Butler will appear for sentencing on Friday.