Anthony Klan and Michael McKenna | June 27, 2008THE first man...

Anthony Klan and Michael McKenna | June 27, 2008

THE first man sentenced as part of Australia's largest online child pornography sting will be free in 12 months despite being previously jailed for child sex offences, raising fresh concerns about lenient child porn sentences.

In a case that could set a precedent for the other 105 Australians charged as a result of international child porn sting Operation Centurion, Glenn Anthony Pasin, 34, was sentenced to 18 months' jail with a non-parole period of one year by a magistrate at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court.

Pasin, formerly a bar manager of the Beauchamp Hotel in inner-city Darlinghurst who was living with his wife and 11-year-old step child at the time of his arrest, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.

He had been jailed for nine months in 2005 on two counts of indecently dealing with a child under 10 years.

His sentence has caused outrage among child protection groups, who believe many of the men who have been charged will walk free from court unless they have a prior conviction.

Hetty Johnston, managing director of child protection group Bravehearts, said: "This penalty is an insult to the children who have been harmed to satiate this person's sick lust."

She said she believed the sentence did not act as a deterrent to others considering viewing child pornography.

The NSW child pornography laws used to sentence Pasin were the subject of strong criticism in March by District Court judge Peter Berman, who labelled them inadequate.

Judge Berman sentenced Nigel Keith Saddler to six years in jail on three charges related to possessing more than 35,000 images of "the most disturbing and depraved kind", including the torture and abuse of babies and bestiality.

He said the charges, which had a maximum penalty of five years, covered thousands of images and therefore involved thousands of victims. For that reason, the maximum sentence available was inadequate.

He said offenders should not be able to take advantage of computer advances, such as storage capacity, to face single charges over multiple items.

Police have also privately expressed concerns about the practice of some sentencing judges who, unlike Judge Berman, refuse to view the material "because they consider it personally offensive", a source told The Australian.

"They say that they can adequately sentence on the basis of the classification and verbal picture provided by the prosecutor," the source said. "I personally believe that, for instance, when you are talking about a video file of a man raping a very young child that mere words cannot convey the seriousness of the offences."

Angered by the perceived leniency of sentences, some police officers are also submittingto courts more detailed, graphic descriptions of the images and videos viewed by alleged offenders.

The comparative leniency in sentences imposed on Australians arrested for child pornography offences has recently been highlighted by a Queensland-led bust of a worldwide internet network.

A Townsville man was one of two Australians among 22 people arrested in raids across the world as a result of the Operation Achilles investigation.

The man is alleged to be the third-highest-ranking member of the network and has been charged under commonwealth law with accessing and transmitting child pornography and is facing between five and 10 years if convicted of the charges.

By comparison, 12 men involved in the network and charged by the FBI face up to 30 years in jail.

Two of the Americans arrested have pleaded guilty and face a minimum of 20 years in jail.

Pasin is appealing against the decision on the grounds the sentence was too harsh. He will reappear before the Downing Centre Local Court on July 23.



The Americans area lot closer to my views.