23 years in prison for perverse child abuse on the Internet

A former sports referee who requested sexually explicit material from ten children abroad via social media platforms must serve a prison sentence of at least 17 years.

Brett Daniel Allford, 42, from Edwardstown in southwest Adelaide, had communicated with his victims via Snapchat and Instagram, encouraging them to engage in sexual activities and send explicit images of themselves.

South Australia’s Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team began investigating in 2022 after West Mercia Police in the UK forwarded a report of a teenager who made contact online with a man believed to be in South Australia.

In October 2022, officers executed a search warrant at Allford’s home and seized a phone containing sexually explicit communications with ten victims – aged 11 to 16 at the time of the crime – from the United Kingdom and Canada, as well as numerous files containing child abuse images.

The former SA Cricket Association and SA National Football League referee pleaded guilty to 14 counts of online child abuse last December.

On Monday, Judge Paul Muscat told the South African District Court that Allford, who had already served a prison sentence in 2019 for similar offences, had very little prospect of rehabilitation.

He manipulated the victims and exploited their personal circumstances to satisfy his deviant sexual desires, said Judge Muscat.

Allford persuaded his victims to send photos and videos by offering money for clothing or food.

He also used a screenshot recording application to secretly record the girls having intimate video chat conversations on the phone.

“In exchange for each picture or video, you would enable them to buy food from Uber Eats or clothes from the online brand Shein by sending them your bank details and specifying a spending limit,” Judge Muscat said.

He said children must be protected from sex offenders.

“Child sex offenders destroy innocence,” he said.

The Victims’ Rights Commissioner submitted a community impact statement.

“As the Commissioner wrote, we live in a highly interconnected world where the use of digital technologies is part of our lives. While these technologies have improved our lives, they have also dramatically changed the dynamics of child sexual abuse and exploitation,” said Judge Muscat.

This is the first conviction in South Australia under the Commonwealth’s mandatory minimum sentencing provisions for child sexual abuse offences.

Judge Muscat imposed a sentence of 23 years, suspended for 17 years, retroactive to Muscat’s arrest. He will be eligible for parole in October 2039.

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National Support Service for Victims of Sexual Abuse and Reparation 1800 211 028