Paedophile, 60, is caught with child porn on his phone by a JB Hi-Fi worker as she helped him transfer data to his new mobile
- He was caught when a worker transferred data from his old phone to new phone
- The woman then went to police on her lunch break to tell them what she found
- Paul Ferguson, 60, was charged after police seized and searched his phone
- He pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child abuse material on Tuesday
A man with child porn on his phone has been caught out by a retail worker when she helped him transfer data to his new mobile.
An employee at JB Hi-Fi in Wollongong, south of Sydney, found more than 100 images of young girls on 60-year-old Paul Ferguson’s Samsung Galaxy on March 13.
She gave the phone back to Ferguson before her and a co-worker reported him to police on their lunch break.
An employee at JB Hi-Fi in Wollongong, south of Sydney, found more than 100 images of young girls on 60-year-old Paul Ferguson’s Samsung Galaxy (stock image)
Ferguson pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child abuse material in court on Tuesday.
The court heard that after the staff members told police, officers carried out a search warrant at Ferguson’s Corrimal home and seized his phone, finding child porn on it.
Ferguson admitted that he downloaded and possessed the images, and said there were ‘thousands’ of other photos on his phone.
The child abuse material was mainly adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 18.
In court, Ferguson’s lawyer Paul Paine pointed out the police fact sheets didn’t include a breakdown of the severity of the material.
He argued this was crucial when deciding on a sentence, and asked for the case to be adjourned until a fact sheet was acquired.
Ferguson remains on bail – under the condition he doesn’t use the internet or go within 200m of schools or playgrounds.
He will be sentenced in August.
The porn was mainly adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 18 (stock image)