Teacher avoids jail over child porn
- Christine Flatley
- AAP
- October 23, 2012 5:35PM
A TEACHER who organised a walk in support of slain Sunshine Coast teenager Daniel Morcombe’s foundation has avoided jail for possessing child pornography.
Cameron Scott Page, 43, was released on Tuesday on an 18-month good behaviour bond after pleading guilty in Brisbane District Court to one count each of accessing and possessing child exploitation material.
Page was a senior elected national official in the Apex Australia services club community and an organiser of a 2011 Walk for Daniel event at the time of his arrest.
The court heard Page’s former colleagues at Maleny High School, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, were stunned by his crime.
“(They) spoke with amazement that an exemplar for many should offend in this way,” Judge David Reid said.
The court heard police raided Page’s Sunshine Coast home in October last year and seized computers and hard drives.
An analysis revealed seven child exploitation movies and 1347 images.
Most of the material was in the least serious category. However, some showed very young children being abused, the court heard.
Page has been suspended from teaching and will be stripped of his registration. He has been assessed by a psychiatrist, who found he was not at risk of abusing children.
The psychiatrist found Page, who now lives with his parents in the east Brisbane suburb of Manly, had been suffering from depression at the time of his offending and would benefit from ongoing counselling.
High school teacher Cameron Scott Page faces jail for downloading child pornography
- by: Tony Keim
- From: The Courier-Mail
- October 22, 2012 2:17PM
A HIGH school teacher who last year organised a walk in support of murdered Sunshine Coast teenager Daniel Morcombe’s foundation faces jail for possessing a large quantity of child pornography, a court has been told.
Former manual arts teacher Cameron Scott Page is facing up to 18-months jail after pleading guilty in the Brisbane District Court to charges of downloading and possessing 1347 images and seven movies of child exploitation material between May 6, 2010, and October 13 last year.
The court was told Page, 43, had been a teacher at Maleny High School, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, a senior elected national official within the Apex Australia services club community and an organiser of a 2011 “Walk for Daniel” event at the time of his arrest.
Page is expected to be sentenced on Tuesday afternoon for possessing child pornography and using a carriage service, the internet, to download the offensive material.
Judge David Reid, during sentencing submissions on Monday, noted Page – like most people who committed offences of this nature – had an otherwise impeccable history and was of good character.
He said it was “an extraordinary phenomenon” and “depressingly familar” that people like Page wound up before courts for accessing such depraved and offensive material.
Prosecutor David Nardone told the court it defied belief that Page would access child exploitation material after having sought out a career dominated by the protection of children.
Mr Nardone submitted Page be jailed for 18-months.
Barrister Liam Dollar, for Page, said his client was ashamed and disgusted in the wake of his arrest.
“He is deeply ashamed of his conduct,” Mr Dollar said.
The court was told Page had served as State Treasurer and National Vice-President of Apex in recent years and had been a school teacher since 1997.
Judge Reid granted Page bail ahead of tomorrow’s sentencing.
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