Former senior public servant dodges jail over 'sexual fantasy email'

Chief Justice Helen Murrell ruled in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday that media outlets would finally be able to name the man, whose identity has been kept secret since he was charged a year ago.

But she subsequently extended a non-publication over the man's name after his barrister, John Purnell SC, immediately signalled an intention to appeal.

Many of the details behind why the secrecy order was originally made cannot be reported for legal reasons.

The offender, who reached the upper echelons of a Commonwealth department before resigning as a result of his crime, attached two files of child abuse material to an email in April last year.

He then tried to send the images to a woman he knew as "Liz".

Chief Justice Murrell said the man, who was separated from his wife, had a "sexual fantasy relationship" with the UK woman that did not usually involve children.

She said it was unclear whether the "computer-generated" images, which "had a natural appearance", ever reached their intended recipient because the man's email account was suspended shortly after he attached the files.

Police raided the man's home in suburban Canberra on May 20 last year, seizing his Apple MacBook Pro laptop.

Investigators found the two files and more child abuse material, but they could not establish whether the further material had "appeared [on the computer] due to an automated process ... or by user input".

Chief Justice Murrell said the email incident was nevertheless "not isolated", with the man having told police that he had "occasionally downloaded images of children while searching for other material".

She said the man, who reported feeling ashamed and remorseful, had admitted coming across child abuse material while searching terms like "teen porn" and "family nudes".

The judge described the realistic files the man pleaded guilty to possessing as "far from harmless" because viewing computer-generated images like them often "fuelled interest" in the sexual abuse of real children.

Despite this, she said the offending was at the low end of seriousness when compared to other child abuse material cases.

Accordingly, Chief Justice Murrell spared the man a jail term and instead sentenced him on Tuesday to a recognisance release order with security in the sum of $100.

Under the terms of the order, the man will be subject to supervision by ACT Corrective Services for at least six months.

He must also be of good behaviour for two years.

Chief Justice Murrell further ordered that the man forfeit his laptop to the Commonwealth.

The man's challenge to the decision to allow his identification is set to go before a full bench of the ACT Court of Appeal in August.

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