Richard James Tomerini: Bunbury man will ‘likely plead guilty’ to child exploitation material charge

The Bunbury man accused of possessing child exploitation material after a crackdown by Australian Federal Police and other international and State agencies has indicated he would “likely plead guilty” to the charge against him. Richard James Tomerini, 69, appeared in Bunbury Magistrates Court on Thursday morning for his second hearing on the matter. During his first court appearance in September he spoke only to indicate he understood the charge against him. His arrest was one of many that resulted from a joint operation, dubbed Operation Tamworth, in which 45 alleged offenders were slapped with 149 charges relating to the access, possession and distribution of child exploitation material. The joint investigation by Federal police and WA’s joint anti-child exploitation team also saw the arrest of a Stirling councillor and former Education Department director in August. During the raids in August and September, officers executed more than 60 search warrants across metropolitan and regional WA and seized 244 electronic devices containing 35,222 images and videos of child exploitation material. While Tomerini’s lawyer adjourned the matter for four weeks to receive final instruction, he told the court it could expect him to “likely plead guilty”. Mr Tomerini will reappear on December 23, with his bail extended until that time.