A Brisbane man has been the first person in Queensland to be convicted and sentenced for the “heinous crime” of possessing child sex dolls
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A Brisbane man has been the first person in Queensland to be convicted and sentenced for the “heinous crime” of possessing child sex dolls, after new federal laws were introduced to combat child abuse offences.
Key points:
- Dunnett admitted to police on the day of his arrest the dolls and the exploitation material belonged to him
- Judge Rinaudo took into consideration Dunnett’s early guilty plea and remorse when determining his sentence
- The judge sentenced Dunnett two years in jail, but ordered he be immediately released under probation supervision
Terry Dunnett, 45, today pleaded guilty in the District Court in Brisbane to two counts of possessing a child sex doll, one count of attempting to possess a child sex doll, and possessing child exploitation material.
The court heard that in January last year the state’s Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team started investigating Dunnett when Australian Border Force (ABF) officers detected an “anatomically-correct doll” in a shipment from China addressed to him.
Several days later, officers raided Dunnett’s home at Riverhills in Brisbane’s west and discovered two other female dolls depicting estimated age ranges of between four and five years old.
Child-exploitation material was also found on a laptop belonging to Dunnett.
During a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, the court heard Dunnett had admitted to police on the day of his arrest that the dolls and the exploitation material belonged to him.
The court heard he told officers he had purchased the dolls, including the one intercepted by ABF, between 2014 and 2020 from the Chinese e-commerce website AliExpress, with the latest costing him about $400.
The prosecution told the court Dunnett should serve an actual term in custody, while his defence lawyer argued a community-based sentence would be more suitable as a psychologist determined he was a “low risk” of actually offending against a child.
Judge Orazio Rinaudo sentenced Dunnett to two years in jail, but ordered he be immediately released under probation supervision.
He also placed him on a good behaviour bond for two years and ordered that he pay a $2,000 recognisance surety only if he reoffends.
In handing down his sentence, Judge Rinaudo said it was “a heinous crime to be involved in the exploitation of children” and that such offences could cause “desensitisation” to child sexual abuse or lead to an escalation of offending against a child.
“They are life-like dolls depicting female children with cavities,” Judge Rinaudo said.
However, Judge Rinaudo said he had to take into consideration Dunnett’s early guilty plea and remorse, when determining his sentence.
“I’m satisfied that you now understand that possession of these dolls and other items was wrong,” he said.
