Tamworth electrician sentenced for possessing and sending child abuse material of his stepdaughter to himself

The man - who is aged in his late-30s and cannot be identified in order to protect the victim - is on a good behaviour bond after walking from sentencing.

The Tamworth man had his case moved to Armidale District Court for sentencing but has already lost his marriage in the wake of the incident after his then-wife discovered the images and video on his devices last year.

The qualified electrician admitted to a charge of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse matter to himself, as well as possessing and controlling the child abuse material.

He was jailed for 12 months but the sentence was suspended on the condition he enter into a recognizance bond for $1000.

Judge Stephen Hanley said the "community has a considerable concern in relation to this type of offending".

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The court heard the child abuse material was limited to five photographs and a video, and involved the victim in a vulnerable position. The Crown prosecutor argued it was "a breach of trust" because the victim was his stepdaughter.

The court was told the teenage girl was ordered to leave her phone at home everyday before she went to school. The offender "came across the particular items and sent it to himself".

Judge Hanley noted the content was "obtained opportunistically" and it did not appear to have "planning" when he sent the material to himself on May 17, last year.

The court heard the offender's wife accessed his iPad on June 23, last year, and noted it was linked by wifi to his phone, where she discovered the five images and one short video.

When she confronted the offender, he denied any knowledge, "which was a lie", Judge Hanley said.

The woman reported her husband to police, who were "able to establish a chronology of the time" when the offender sent the images to himself, after reviewing the home's CCTV.

When officers were investigating the incident, they discovered the offender had done a factory reset on his phone "clearly ... trying to avoid any connection to him and the victim's phone".

Judge Hanley said the man also lied when confronted by police, but there was "commonality in the images" and "one victim was involved in relation to each offence".

"This offence appears to be an abhorration," he said in sentencing, but noted he would now be listed on the child sex offender's register.

He acknowledged the guilty plea had avoided a trial; and he had a prior good character with a limited record, and had maintained employment with his own business in the Tamworth community.

He said although the man had ruined his marriage and his relationship with the victim, the sentence must be denounced to "stamp out of this type of criminality".

Judge Hanley was told the offender had a new relationship; children of his own; now has accommodation and employment; has the support of his friends and family, and good prospects of rehabilitation.

As part of the order he must stay out of trouble for 18 months; accept supervision from authorities; undertake any treatment or rehabilitation programs as directed; and not travel interstate or overseas without permission from Community Corrections.

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