Despite being caught with hundreds of child pornographic photographs, the pedophilic son of a politician could be released from prison in just two months.
Thursday in Townsville District Court, Daniel James Knuth, son of Australian Party north Queensland Member Shane Knuth, pleaded guilty to child exploitation offences.
The 25-year-old with dwarfism was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison in September 2021 for the 593 photographs and four videos of child exploitation found on his phone, according to the Townsville Bulletin.
He was also recorded chatting with young girls on Snapchat and Facebook, some as young as 12 years old.
While Knuth has already served a substantial amount of time in prison, he will be eligible for parole in April.
Knuth was already serving a four-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty in 2019 to 35 counts of child sex abuse.
Knuth, who was 21 at the time, was discovered to have posed as a personal trainer on Facebook to entice young women into sending him nude images.
The allegations included possession of child exploitation material, use of a transportation service for child exploitation material, and solicitation of a child under the age of 16.
The presiding judge on Thursday stated that the 2019 verdict granted “extraordinary leniency” and took Knuth’s dwarfism into account.
The court also heard that Knuth struggled with alcoholism when police learned he was not adhering to his reportable sexual offender duties.
Knuth turned to drink, according to defense attorney Jess Horn, since he was routinely dubbed a “paedophile” by locals and shunned by his community.
‘He was expelled from his church and endured multiple public confrontations, such as being labelled a paedophile while merely crossing the street,’ he claimed.
By the time he committed the crimes, he had consumed an entire bottle of vodka over the course of two days in order to dull his physical and emotional suffering.
ABC reported that as part of the four-year suspended sentence, Knuth was required to disclose all new social media and email accounts.
Nicole Butler, a prosecutor for the Crown, remembered a time when Knuth was intoxicated and sleeping when investigators visited his home to check on compliance.
She reported that Knuth attempted to ‘grab’ his phone from officers, who discovered that he had created new Snapchat, Facebook, and email accounts under fictitious names.
Ms. Butler stated that the defendant utilized the application to communicate with a number of girls between the ages of 12 and 16, including an image of a person in a high school uniform.
Also, almost 600 pieces of child pornographic material were discovered on the phone.
The court heard that Knuth was caught six weeks later, and police discovered the 25-year-old had purchased a new phone with approximately 20 additional child pornographic photographs and two movies.
Shane Knuth, who wept as his son was sentenced, told reporters outside the court: ‘From the beginning, Daniel has admitted he’s done wrong, and as parents, we love him, but we don’t condone what he’s done.’
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