20 Aug Producing Child Exploitation Material – Section s 218 – Criminal Code

s 218 – Producing Child Exploitation Material

1. A person who produces child exploitation material is guilty of a crime and is liable to imprisonment for 10 years.

Elements of the Offence

• In order to be convicted of this offence you must be found guilty of producing child exploitation material.
• “Child exploitation material” is defined in section 217A of the Criminal Code as:
  • Child pornography; or
  • Material that, in a way likely to offend a reasonable person, describes, depicts or represents a person ,or part of a person, who is, or appears to be a child –
    • In an offensive or demeaning context; or
    • Being subjected to abuse, cruelty or torture (whether or not in a sexual context);
  • “Child pornography” means material that, in a way likely to offend a reasonable person, describes, depicts or represents a person, or a part of a person, who is, or appears to be a child –
    • Engaging in sexual activity; or
    • In a sexual context;
  • “Material” includes –
    • Any object, picture, film, written or printed matter, data, or other thing; and
    • Any thing from which text, pictures, sound or data can be produced or reproduced, with or without the aid of anything else;
  • “Picture” includes an image, whether or not it is a computer generated image.
• This offence is strictly limited to where the offender has produced the child exploitation material. If the offender has not made the child exploitation material but has it in their possession, they may instead by charged with possession of child exploitation material.
• If you have producing child exploitation material and you have also given the child exploitation material to other parties you may be charged with distributing child exploitation material.

Typical Circumstances of the Offence

• From the legislation you can see that the child exploitation material can be in one of many forms, including written, digital photos, and film.
• In terms of what makes up the actual child exploitation material, there is a wide range in the type of material that can be classed as this.
• When someone is arrested for this crime the Police will seize the material and potentially their phone and computer in order to search them for further evidence of child exploitation material.

Possible Defences

• One way of defending the charge is to deny the facts constituting the offence.
• There may be room to enter into negotiations with the police to try to argue that whilst you had the child exploitation material in your possession, you did not produce it. This could potentially result in a lesser sentence, as a possession charge comes with a lower maximum penalty than producing charge.

Possible Penalties and Sentences

• A person convicted of producing child exploitation material is guilty of a crime and is liable to imprisonment for 10 years.
• A term of immediate imprisonment is the most likely outcome for a conviction of this type of offence.
• The length of the term of imprisonment can vary greatly depending on the nature and type of child exploitation material.
• With legally drafted sentencing submissions by an experienced lawyer, you will be able to obtain the most appropriate sentence if found guilty of this crime.

If you have been charged with this offence it is important to obtain legal advice as soon as possible. Book an initial appointment with for expert legal advice.