Errol Leonard Warner: South West man already eligible for parole over child exploitation material convictions

An 80-year-old South West man is already eligible to be released on parole for ‘creating’ his own child exploitation material but remains impacted by an alleged attack he suffered in prison awaiting sentencing. Errol Leonard Warner appeared in the Bunbury District Court via videolink from Casuarina Prison on Thursday, where he was handed a 10-month jail term after previously pleading guilty to multiple counts of possessing child exploitation material. The court was told on Monday, police attended Warner’s home at the Waterloo Village Caravan Park in Picton East on September 1 last year, where they conducted a search of his caravan. Inside the caravan, authorities found a variety of digital devices containing child exploitation materials along with a series of dolls modified to be sexual aids. The first device - a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge - contained six images depicting close-ups of a newborn baby’s genitals, believed to be taken from a television program. The phone also showed 12 images of children over the age of 13, images of Warner pleasuring himself onto the photos of the children as well as photos taken of children walking into a local shopping centre with their parents. The second device - an Apple iPad - showed 17 images of naked newborn babies and young children, pictures of children playing in the caravan park at which he resided, cropped images of young children in their underwear, additional images of children at a local shopping centre and further photos of Warner pleasing himself. In addition to the images, authorities found three children’s dolls with their crotches cut out, so to be used as sexual aids. A further 10 doll heads were also found, modified for the same purposes. All images and items were ordered for destruction. The court was also told Warner is a reportable offender, and is subject to supervision and restricted internet access. In submissions, Warner’s defence counsel Derek Hunter informed the court that while Warner was in custody on remand for the offending, he was the alleged victim of a serious assault that left him unable to walk. It was alleged the assault took place at Bunbury Regional Prison, a day after it was previously reported Warner had pleaded guilty to his charges. The court heard Warner allegedly sustained severe head injuries, including the loss of several teeth, four broken ribs, and was strangled to the point of losing consciousness. Following the attack, Warner was deemed legally blind in one eye, and is now unable to walk without the assistance of a walking frame or a wheelchair. During previous court appearances, Warner had twice asked the Bunbury Magistrates Court for a suppression order because he “didn’t want [his] name to appear in the papers”, but his request was denied. Justin Michael Royer was initially charged with aggravated grievous bodily harm in relation to the alleged assault but the charge had since been upgraded to one of attempted murder. In sentencing, District Court Judge David Maclean said Warner “created his own child exploitation material” despite his status as a reportable offender as well as evidence from a pre-sentence report showing Warner had an “above average risk” of reoffending. “It was a calculated step to circumvent your supervision regime,” he said. “You used images of children for the purpose of your own entertainment. “Children have the right to go out in public without having photos surreptitiously taken of them.” While it was accepted the impact of the alleged attack and injuries suffered by Warner would continue to make time spent in custody difficult and steps had been taken to remove him from Bunbury Regional Prison, Judge Maclean said the responsibility for the attack did not fall on reports made by the media. Warner’s sentence was backdated to the day he was arrested and was made eligible for parole.