Jason Michael Simpson jailed for indecently recording young boy at campsite, possessing child pornography

A 36-year-old man has been jailed for indecently recording and dealing with a young boy, as well as possessing thousands of explicit cartoon images and videos depicting children. Jason Michael Simpson appeared in Bunbury District Court on January 17, where he was handed a four-year and six-month jail term for various charges, including possessing child exploitation material, indecently recording a child under 13 years, indecent dealings with a child under 13 years, showing offensive material to a child and attempted sexual penetration of a child under 13. Allegations of bestiality were dismissed after negotiations between the defence and prosecution. The court was told police searched Simpson’s Goomalling home during the evening of December 29 where a laptop was seized, uncovering thousands of explicit cartoon images of children. When Simpson was arrested at Wellington Dam near Collie, his mobile phone was also seized, which uncovered more explicit cartoon images. After Simpson disclosed a hard drive to police, officer seized the device from his car and found even more explicit cartoon images and videos, as well as sexually explicit images of children. Officers also found several explicit videos depicting an eight-year-old boy that were recorded by Simpson at a campsite near Collie without the boy knowing he was being recorded. Another video on the hard drive depicted the boy and Simpson performing “explicit acts on one other”, with each of them taking turns holding the recording device, along with several photos depicting Simpson touching and exposing the boy. Simpson also admitted to police that before undressing and touching the boy, they would watch pornographic material together. It was submitted Simpson led an isolated and lonely lifestyle with a lot of rejection from potential partners, causing him to seek love and attention but found it inappropriately with children, despite claiming he had no interest in children. Simpson’s defence counsel Paul Chapman told the court Simpson acknowledged a lengthy prison term was coming his way, with his client himself describing his actions as “disgraceful”. A psychological report submitted to the court recommended Simpson undergo a formal assessment for autism spectrum disorder after the reporting psychologist noticed behaviours that were consistent with the condition. State prosecutor Mark Hunter said it was “fortunate” police had intervened before Simpson’s offending escalated further. Mr Hunter also submitted a reference to an interview that was conducted with the young victim, who allegedly told police “nothing bad” happened between them, suggesting “comprehensive grooming” had taken place. In sentencing, District Court Judge Michael Gething described the child exploitation materials as “highly disturbing” despite the majority not depicting actual children and the persistent offending against the eight-year-old boy was a gross breach of trust. “Your offending didn’t come to an end as a result of any decision by you,” he said. “There’s a very high risk that your offending would have continued and may well have escalated had you not been the subject of police attention for your possession of the child exploitation material, and your offending as a whole is a serious example of sexual abuse and exploitation of a young boy in a position of particular vulnerability.” Simpson was also handed a four-month prison term that was ordered to be served concurrently for using a surveillance device to record a 13-year-old neighbour without their knowledge, as well as a $800 fine for possessing an obscene article. Simpson’s jail term was backdated to December 29, 2020, and he will be eligible for parole in June 2023.