The woman, who is in her mid-30s, spent five days on remand at the Alexander Maconochie Centre before she was granted bail earlier this year. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to alleged child abuse.
A magistrate has “grave concerns” about the progress of the case against a mother accused of possessing nude photos of her young daughter, while the woman’s lawyer has blasted the actions of police and prosecutors in the matter as “outrageous”.
Police have previously alleged someone tried to print photos at a Canberra store in May 2026, but the printers malfunctioned.
Soon afterwards, staff allegedly found child exploitation images that had failed to print.
The woman, who is in her mid-30s but legally cannot be named, was arrested, refused bail and spent five days in custody before she was allowed to leave prison in June.
A police officer had told the court that 49 digital images had been seized from the printing store. Some of these images were of the woman’s daughter when she was nude and covered in coloured liquid.
However, the woman’s lawyers argued that her daughter took the nude photographs herself for an art project before trying to print them off at the store.
She pleaded not guilty and her lawyer, Peter Woodhouse of CODA Criminal Law, wrote to the ACT Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in September arguing it was “almost inevitable” that prosecutors would not be able to prove her charge of possessing child exploitation material beyond reasonable doubt.
He argued that none of the photos alleged to have been in his client’s possession represented a child engaged in activity of a sexual nature.
Also, he said the girl told police she took the nude images on her mother’s phone herself, which her mother and grandmother had claimed as well.
“As much as the police officers in charge of the investigation may not want it to be so, all of the evidence points to the fact that [the girl] took the naked photographs of herself,” he argued.
Mr Woodhouse said there was no public interest in continuing to prosecute his client.
He said before she was charged, she lived alone with her daughter, who was suspected to be on the autism spectrum. But as a result of her arrest, her daughter had been effectively removed from her care and they had only been allowed to start speaking with each other again in August.
“That whole process has caused considerable distress to my client and no doubt to her daughter … and I suspect will have caused irreparable damage to their relationship,” Mr Woodhouse said.
Speaking to the Magistrates Court on Friday (2 October), Mr Woodhouse said a prosecutor had replied to these representations to say they would recommend the charge be discontinued, but this request had to go before their superiors.
However, prosecutors then told Mr Woodhouse his representations had been unsuccessful. Then on Friday, prosecutors laid an additional, more serious charge of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material against the woman, which likely means she will have to face a Supreme Court trial.
“The approach of the director’s office in particular, but also police, is outrageous,” Mr Woodhouse said after reciting the chronology of the case.
The court also heard that while the matter has been scheduled to go to hearing later this year, it had needed to be mentioned four times since July due to the delays in providing all the evidence to the defence.
A prosecutor said his office had escalated the matter within the police in an effort to bring the matter forward as quickly as possible. Prosecutors also brought it to the attention of Chief Police Officer Scott Lee.
Region understands that after the matter was brought to Mr Lee’s attention earlier this week, prosecutors received critical material relevant to whether their office accepted the woman’s version of events.
In addition, when the police officer in charge of the case addressed the court on Friday, she alleged police had found more than 200 extra photos of possible child abuse material on the woman’s mobile phone.
She said the pictures were similar to the original photos, as they allegedly showed a naked girl holding knives with a red substance on her body, or of her posing in front of a mirror with writing on the glass.
But Mr Woodhouse questioned the relevance on this alleged discovery.
“God help half the parents in the Territory should police go through their phone and find naked photos of their kids,” he said.
Special Magistrate Sean Richter said he had “grave concerns” about the matter’s progress. He said the remaining evidence had to be given to the defence in three weeks, otherwise it would be excluded from the hearing, and he ordered prosecutors pay the woman’s legal costs for the adjournment.
The matter will return to court later this month, and is listed for a hearing in December.
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 on (02) 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.
If you have been affected by sexual violence, or someone you know has, you can report it to law enforcement by attending a police station or phoning 131 444.
Margaret Freemantle well how long have you been around ? since the billionaires came to town ?? View