Man 'publicly shamed' by bestiality, child abuse material charges

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to alleged child abuse offences and animal cruelty.

The fact a man has been charged with alleged bestiality and child abuse material offences means he has been “publicly shamed”, a court has heard.

The 26-year-old man, who Region has chosen not to name for the time being, is accused of committing a bestiality offence against a friend’s cat in mid-February 2025.

He also allegedly possessed several photos or videos of animated child abuse material on his electronic devices.

He faces single counts of bestiality and possessing child abuse and child exploitation material, as well as two counts of using a carriage service to access child abuse material.

The man spent almost a month in custody after his arrest before he appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday (13 March) to apply for bail.

His lawyer, Edward Chen from Legal Aid, said his client had no criminal history so there was no evidentiary basis to think he would commit offences if he was granted bail.

“He’s been publicly shamed, in this very full courtroom, full of journalists,” Mr Chen said.

He said his client’s family members had driven from interstate to attend court to support the bail application and they would take him back to live in that state if it was granted.

“[He] will be separated very far from [the friend] and his cat,” Mr Chen said.

“They do have pets, but they are two German shepherds.”

Mr Chen said while police thought his client was an “IT professional”, his work actually involved fixing printers and photocopiers.

Prosecutor Gretta Cuthel, who opposed bail, including out of concerns for the welfare of any person or animal, said the evidence suggested the defendant was intoxicated on the night of the alleged bestiality offence after consuming a number of drinks.

She said the alleged offence occurred within a 10-minute window and claimed he would have known the arrival of the animal’s owner was imminent.

Ms Cuthel said while the actual alleged offence was “spontaneous”, she claimed the “sexual interest was not”, as police allegedly found bestiality was a theme in his Internet search history.

Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker said she was concerned about releasing him on bail for the time being, partly due to the “highly disturbing” contents of the allegations.

She said she would order a brief mental health report and continue the bail application when it was obtained.

The application was scheduled to continue later in March. The man remains in custody.

Region has chosen not to name the man while the mental health report was being obtained.

If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.