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General News

4 July, 2024

Man imprisoned over child abuse material

A 51-year-old Maryborough man has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and placed on the sex offender register for life after pleading guilty to producing child abuse material. Patrick Mathews entered his guilty plea at the County Court in...

By Maryborough Advertiser

Man imprisoned over child abuse material - feature photo

A 51-year-old Maryborough man has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and placed on the sex offender register for life after pleading guilty to producing child abuse material.

Patrick Mathews entered his guilty plea at the County Court in Bendigo this week, where he was convicted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with 14 months non-parole, the Herald Sun has reported.

It’s understood Mr Mathews faced a single charge of possessing child abuse material, and two charges relating to producing child abuse material.

According to the Sun, police raided Mr Mathews’ home and workplace in Maryborough following an investigation that found he was part of a pedophile chatgroup that shared explicit videos of children.

It was heard in court that police seized Mr Mathews’ phone and found he had been filming two girls in the shower for a number of months in 2022.

He was also caught in June and July of last year possessing videos of child sexual exploitation.

According to the Herald Sun, Mr Mathews, a US citizen, had been working as a welder in Maryborough until recently.

In addition to his two-year prison sentence, Mr Mathews will also serve a further three months behind bars in relation to the charge of possessing child abuse material and will undergo sex offender therapy following his release.

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