Warning: This article contains content some readers may find distressing.
It was an ongoing conversation about methods of sexually abusing babies and toddlers that brought Jonathon Lester Edwards to the attention first of US authorities and then of the Australian Federal Police.
Key points:
- Jonathon Lester Edwards, 34, has been sentenced to 20 months in prison
- The chef was found with at least 6,388 child sex abuse files, including videos and images, across five devices
- His crimes were uncovered after a US-based child exploitation authority reported him to the Australian Federal Police
Edwards, a 34-year-old chef from Bairnsdale in eastern Victoria, had been speaking with an American woman named Nadia in an online paedophile chatroom when the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children started monitoring their conversations.
Edwards had a plan to bring Nadia to regional Victoria to live, so they could have a baby and sexually abuse the child.
The “depraved” pair had even discussed having a homebirth so authorities would not know the baby existed.
“I definitely think it’s important to start there. From birth so it’s normalised for them,” Edwards said to Nadia.
Edwards told her she could live rent free and he would pay half the cost of her flight to Australia. Not long afterwards, Nadia stopped responding to Edwards’ messages, but he continued to communicate with others in online paedophile chatrooms.
Following a tip-off from the US authority, AFP investigators raided Edwards’ home in December 2021 and, across five devices, found at least 6,388 files containing videos and images of child sexual abuse, organised by gender and age of the children exploited in the material.
In August 2022, Edwards pleaded guilty to two counts of accessing and transmitting child abuse material and one of possessing child abuse material, in exchange for a discounted sentence.
In sentencing Edwards today in the Melbourne County Court, Judge Amanda Chambers reminded him of his “sadistic” plans.
“You said, ‘I prefer toddlers to 10-year-olds because they can tell what’s going on and the trouble they are in’,” Judge Chambers said.
“You discussed in explicit and abhorrent terms, the sexual activities you would engage in, with your imprisoned child, including various violent and degrading sexual acts.
“You said, ‘I’m a really normal guy outside of the bedroom with good friends, family and a job, part of sports clubs … but behind closed doors we could live our dreams.”
The ABC has chosen not to detail Edwards’ proposed acts of cruelty towards young children, but his plans included torture and rape.
‘Highly depraved’
Until a fortnight ago, Edwards had been on bail, living and working in the Bairnsdale community where he worked as a chef.
At a plea hearing in the Latrobe Valley County Court on November 1, after which Edwards was remanded, prosecutors outlined depraved discussions between him and others in online encrypted paedophile chatrooms.
Crown Prosecutor Jake Morrison told the court Edwards’ offending had flow-on effects, fuelling a market which exploited children around the world.
“The nature of the material that was transmitted and possessed in this case, the Crown says, is of a highly depraved nature,” he said.
“Sharing the material fuels the market for it, but it also continues to victimise the individuals depicted in the material continuously.”
In the lead-up to sentencing, several relatives, employers and current and former intimate partners provided character references for Edwards.
Judge Chambers sentenced Edwards to 20 months in prison, with a recognisance order to follow.
She told the court a support network would be imperative in his rehabilitation.