Catholic school deputy principal who blamed being stressed at work after he was caught with depraved videos of child porn and bestiality AVOIDS jail
- Quentin Smith, 50, admitted watching child porn on his laptop for a year
- He resigned as deputy principal of St John’s Regional College after police raid
- Smith was sentenced to prison time but released on a recognisance order
A former deputy principal at a suburban Melbourne Catholic school has avoided jail after possessing child pornography including ‘depraved’ bestiality videos.
Quentin Smith, 50, admitted accessing child pornography on his laptop for 12 months up to March 2018.
He resigned as the deputy principal of St John’s Regional College in Dandenong after police raided his home in March last year.
When officers searched the laptop they found 156 child pornography files including videos and photos with some involving children as young as six.
‘Some of the material you accessed was particularly shocking and disturbing,’ County Court Judge Michael O’Connell said on Thursday.
A former deputy principal at a suburban Melbourne Catholic school has avoided jail after possessing child pornography including ‘depraved’ bestiality videos (stock image)
One video showed Smith performing a sex act during a bestiality clip featuring a dog and an adolescent male.
Another video showed sex acts between young male children and a pony or a small horse.
‘That material was particularly depraved,’ Judge O’Connell said.
The former teacher also visited online chat rooms and in March 2018 wrote ‘keen for kids’ and received a URL in reply.
When Smith was interviewed he admitted being relieved he was discovered.
He voluntarily enrolled in a program for sex offender treatment and told the psychologist he was ‘mortified’ by his behaviour.
‘I am horrified by how out of control I was,’ Smith said of the offending.
The offending started as he struggled to cope with extreme stress following the death of his partner and problems at work.
He abused drugs including meth and GHB each weekend which was the setting for the offending, the judge said.
Despite the shocking allegations, former colleagues and friends stood by Smith and submitted positive character references on his behalf.
One former colleague said the allegations were ‘completely out of character’ for the ‘intelligent, intuitive teacher’.
The judge was impressed by the number of positive character references, but noted the offending was not a victim-less crime.
‘Behaviour of the kind that you engaged in does indeed feed upon, and encourage, the abject exploitation of innocent young children,’ Judge O’Connell said.
Despite the serious allegations, Smith co-operated with police, pleaded guilty at an early stage, apologised and had undergone rehabilitative treatment.
No children at the school were impacted by his crimes, and the fact he was a teacher was not an aggravating feature of his offending, Judge O’Connell said.
Smith pleaded guilty to accessing child pornography, producing and possessing child abuse material and possessing GHB.
He was sentenced to 12 months’ jail but released on a recognisance order and must be of good behaviour and serve an 18-month community corrections order which includes 200 hours of voluntary work.
He will be listed on the sex offenders register for life.