Jail for Geraldton man Daniel Francis Thomas Barnard who shared images of babies and children being abused

A convicted paedophile who used the alias “Filthy Wun” to access and share horrific child exploitation material, including footage of babies as well as children who were bound and sexually assaulted, has been jailed for more than four years. When the Australian Federal Police came knocking on Daniel Francis Thomas Barnard’s Cape Burney door in April, he denied owning a mobile phone — but when further checks uncovered an active phone at the property, he admitted he had a device hidden under the fridge. And after the Samsung was unlocked, Barnard, 48, admitted that he, under the username “Filthy Wun”, would use the encrypted messaging service Telegram to receive links to child abuse material from other paedophiles and share it among chat groups. Barnard also downloaded the material to view offline, with police finding 581 images and 723 videos ranging from categories one to six — which depicted children involved in bestiality, the abuse of babies as young as one, and children who were bound. About 650 attachments were shared across various chat groups, with Barnard accessing 1000 files. He also had conversations with another paedophile, in which he described his “desire” to handcuff a child and choke them while raping them. Defence lawyer Kate Fry on Friday told the District Court that Barnard had to be held in protection after media reported details of a bail application, including where he lived, which resulted in “vigilante type” comments on social media and a fear for his safety. Ms Fry said Barnard, who is a reportable sex offender who was convicted of abusing a child in 2006 and distributing child exploitation material in 2015, has been seeing a psychiatrist while behind bars and “wants to participate in the sex offender treatment program”. “He tells me he’s very remorseful for his offending behaviour. He wants to get better,” she said. Sentencing Barnard, who pleaded guilty to possessing, transmitting and accessing child abuse material, Judge Martin Flynn said his crime involved a “significant volume” of material and “very young children”. Judge Flynn said his crimes were a “particularly serious example of these types of offences”. But he accepted he was “sorry” and was willing to undergo treatment for a “longstanding issue in your life which is sexual interest in very young children”. “People who possess and distribute child abuse material encourage others to produce it, and that involves the abuse, the humiliation and the corruption of children who are vulnerable,” he said. “The harm caused to children is incalculable.” Barnard was jailed for four years and four months. He will be eligible for parole after serving two years and eight months.