Vile grandfather-of-seven, 69, caught at the airport with 89,000 disgusting child abuse images AVOIDS jail
- Man, 69, pleaded guilty to possessing and accessing child exploitation material
- Had 88,249 child abuse images on his laptop when stopped at airport in 2018
- Police found more explicit material on grandfather-of-seven's home computer
- David Clive Whitehead received a 15-month suspended sentence on Tuesday
A grandfather of seven busted by Australian Border Force officers with thousands of explicit photos on his laptop and computer has escaped prison time.
David Clive Whitehead, 69, pleaded guilty to possessing and accessing child exploitation material and attempting to export goods without approval when he faced Brisbane District Court on Tuesday.
ABF officers found 88,249 child abuse images on his laptop when Whitehead was stopped at Brisbane International Airport on May 11, 2018.
Australian Border Force officials found 88,249 child abuse images on his laptop when he was stopped at Brisbane International Airport (stock image)
Queensland Police found more photos on his home computer during a search warrant at his Sunshine Coast property the next day following an admission from Whitehead to ABF officers.
The court was told most of the photos were on the lowest scale in terms of severity of child exploitation material, Quest Newspapers reported.
Whitehead's barrister told the court it was his client's first appearance before a judge and was well respected in the community as a collection driver for several charities.
He added Whitehead didn't distribute or make a profit from the vile material in his possession.
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Judge Julie Dick told the court Whitehead's offences were still very serious.
'As attenuated as it might seem when you're looking at it on a computer screen, these are real children and they are being exploited,' she told the court.
'And if there wasn't a demand, there wouldn't be a market.
Judge Dick took Whitehead's lack of criminal history and vow to undergo rehabilitation into account as she handed him a 15-month suspended jail sentence.
Whitehead was also placed a two year good behaviour bond.
