There are calls for Sir Ron Brierley to be stripped of his knighthood after he pleaded guilty to possession of child sexual abuse material at a Sydney court hearing.
When he was arrested it was reported that detectives seized his carry-on bags, laptop and electronic-storage units and allegedly discovered more than 200,000 images and 512 videos.
On Thursday, Brierley pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing child abuse material, with a number of other charges of possessing child abuse material withdrawn. He faces a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment. Clearly some sort of deal has been done.
There are some rather twisted individuals who are seeking to minimise what he has done. Make no mistake about this, Ron Brierley’s crimes are not victimless. Even Rob Campbell has moved rapidly to distance himself from the awfulness of Brierley’s crimes against children:
Professional director Rob Campbell, who oversaw the return of capital to shareholders from Brierley’s investment company Guinness Peat Group said: “It’s hard to feel anything other than contempt for the actions to which Ron Brierley has pleaded guilty. That, and sorrow for the damage which must have been inflicted on the children involved.”
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Contempt…and disgust. As I said previously, this is not a victimless crime. Every one of those images and videos in his possession, no matter the exact number, is an image of a child who has been cruelly taken advantage of and abused, so that dirty old men like Sir Ron Brierley can get their jollies.
It’s a vile despicable crime. The fact he derives pleasure from the exploitation of children who are subjected to the most horrific and perverted form of abuse is beyond repulsive. How long has this predatory behaviour been going on? How long have people like Rob Campbell or Bruce Judge or Paul Collins known about his behaviour and looked the other way? Plenty of people have to have known about Brierley’s predilections, yet they stayed silent.
These crimes occur precisely because people say nothing. If you see something, then you should say something. Crimes like this exist because they are shrouded in darkness.
But what happens next? Jacinda Ardern has moved to take away his knighthood, but is that enough?
He still awaits sentencing but in the meantime he happily strolls around Rose Bay, Sydney without a care in the world. He lives across the road from Malcolm Turnbull, perhaps they’ve met or crossed paths while exercising.
Malcolm Turnbull may yet take the gloss off Ardern’s actions by cancelling Brierley’s Australian citizenship and deporting him back whence he came. That would play well to the Australian electorate. He’s cancelled citizenship for jihadi brides; surely a convicted nonce meets the threshold?
No doubt we will shortly hear how a prison sentence would be a death sentence. I’m not sure too many will shed a tear over that.
Brierley should be locked up. He should be, but he probably won’t be. That would be a travesty. Sadly it is all too common for people like Brierley to slip away with minimal consequences.
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