A Hamilton Island man has been jailed for 14 years after he commissioned videos of sexual acts involving Filipino children, some as young as three.
Key points:
- Willie Arthur Mareko was found with Skype recordings of him ordering Filippino women and children to perform depraved acts
- He pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court in Mackay to various child abuse offences
- He was sentenced to 14 years jail with parole eligibility after eight years
Willie Arthur Mareko, 36, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court in Mackay to child abuse offences, including paying for a child to engage in sexual activity with another person outside Australia.
Police raided Mareko's Hamilton Island home in October 2021 where they found evidence of child exploitation material on his laptop and phone.
The court heard Mareko would contact women on social media and offer to pay for live streams of child abuse.
Commonwealth prosecutor Chris Moore told the court Mareko had sent nearly $50,000 to the Philippines and contacted 11 people in an attempt to get access to young children.
Of the 11 people contacted, Mareko engaged with four where he organised Skype meetings to watch and order depraved acts involving women and children, which he recorded.
The court heard some of the youngest children involved in these live streams were aged between three and five.
Mr Moore told the court there were other videos sent to Mareko displaying more child abuse material.
The offences happened over a three-and-a-half-year period when Mareko was aged 30 to 34 and spanned his time living in both Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Mareko's barrister, Paul Rutledge, told the court there was no evidence to suggest that the $50,000 his client had sent to the Philippines had all been used in the child abuse.
The court heard Mareko asked for between $20 and $80 for most of the live stream requests.
Mr Routledge asked Justice Graeme Crow to consider this factor and that $50,000 had not been used solely for the child exploitation offences before the court.
'Horrendous' conduct
Justice Crow called Mareko's conduct "truly horrendous".
He said the man's behaviour was incentivising desperately poor families in the Philippines to "abuse their own children".
Mareko was sentenced on multiple charges including:
- procuring a child to engage in sexual activity outside Australia
- two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity with another person
- three counts of using a carriage service for child abuse material
- possessing or controlling child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service
- grooming a child to engage in sexual activity outside Australia.
Justice Crow jailed Mareko for 14 years with parole eligibility after eight years.