An Australian sex tourist branded "a child's worst
nightmare" for his abuse of 11 babies and children has been jailed for a
record 40 years.
Ruecha Tokputza, 31,
groomed children for sex in Australia and Thailand, filmed their abuse and
shared same online.
Prosecutors have said
his crimes are the most serious case of sex offending in Australia, and
District Court judge Liesl Chapman on Friday called him a predator whose
actions were depraved.
She sentenced him to 40
years and three months behind bars, with a non-parole period of 28 years, after
he pleaded guilty to 50 charges committed between 2011 and 2018.
It's the longest sentenced imposed for child sex offences in Australia.
"You are a child's
worst nightmare, you are every parent's horror, you are a menace to the
community," she said.
"Unfortunately
there are many like you out there, fortunately you have been caught."
The majority of Tokputza's
victims lived in Thailand, where he was born before he migrated to Australia
when he was 13 years old.
Judge Chapman said his
youngest victim was just 15 months old, and Tokputza removed one child's nappy
to abuse him while he slept.
She said Tokputza
believed he was helping the children by "showering them with love, care
and attention".
"You said you knew
what you did was wrong because they were underage, but you never saw yourself
as hurting them," she said.
"You felt you took
care of them and they loved you back."
In addition to the sex
offences, Tokputza was caught with 12,500 images and 650 videos of child
exploitation he had downloaded.
He also had 415 images
251 pornographic videos that captured his own crimes taking place.
Judge Chapman said the
material was proof that child pornography was "not a victimless
crime".
She said a psychologist
had found Tokputza met the full criteria for a pedophilic disorder, and was at
a medium to high risk of sexual reoffending.
Prosecutors last month
said they could not find a child sex case as serious as Tokputza's in
Australia, including that of notorious Families SA sex offender Shannon
McCoole.
McCoole was in 2015
sentenced to 35 years in jail -- with a non-parole period of 28 years -- for
sexually abusing babies and young children in state care.
Tokputza will not be
eligible for parole until he is in his late 50s.
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