Man told to expect to go to jail for transmitting indecent material to child

Bradley Colin Hay, 65 pleaded guilty to a range of charges relating to child pornography in the Launceston Magistrates Court in February.

Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecutor Kate Nightingale told chief justice Alan Blow that the charges were extremely serious and that Hay was an offender for the second time.

In 2020 Hay was released after receiving a seven month jail term.

Ms Nightingale said there was a mandatory minimum sentence and a maximum sentence of 15 years.

Chief justice Blow asked Hay whether he was going to get legal; representation.

"I tried four legal firms and the lawyer from Legal Aid recommended that I plead guilty," Hay said.

Chief justice Blow recommended that Hay try again to get legal representation before setting a date for sentence of March 22.

"You can expect to go to prison that day," he said.

Hay pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to access child exploitation material and using a carriage service to cause child abuse material to be transmitted between April 6 2022 and September 29 2022.

He also pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material and using a carriage service to transmit indecent communication to a person under the age of 16 years between October 17 2019 and December 9 2020.

Hay pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to comply with reporting obligations under the Community Protection (offender reporting) Act by not disclosing access to two emails addresses between August 9 2022 and September 16 2022.

Magistrate Ken Stanton will sentence on the failing to comply charges on April 16 2024.

In November 2020 Justice Robert Pearce sentenced Hay to seven months jail after he pleaded guilty to a count of possessing child abuse material which was obtained or accessed using a carriage service.

However, he ordered that Hay not serve any of the term upon giving a $2000 surety and pledging to be of good behaviour for two years.

"The purpose of the order is to provide an incentive for you not to re-offend and to encourage your rehabilitation," he said.

"If you fail to comply with a condition of the recognizance, for example by committing some further offence, you may be called upon to pay the sum of $2,000, and a court may order that you serve all or part of the term in addition to any other term you may be required to serve."

The court heard that Hay was the manager of an adult store in Launceston at the time of the offending.